Born in Wörgl in 1983 and raised in Lienz, Marko Kostner lives and works in Ortisei, Val Gardena. After a three-year specialization in wood sculpture at the „Cademia" and drawing and modelling courses focused on the human nude, he has been working independently since 2017. Since 2024 he works in his own studio in the heart of the Dolomites.
At the centre of the works stands the human figure. The sculptures engage with themes such as vulnerability and strength, closeness and distance, presence and absence. The intent is not a purely naturalistic depiction, but rather expression and inner attitude. From glued linden wood, life-sized figures emerge – shaped with mallet, chisel and chainsaw – confronting the viewer directly. Occasional experimental colour elements and material combinations break with the familiar appearance and open up new possibilities of interpretation.
Since 2024, Marko Kostner has been working in his own studio in Ortisei, Val Gardena. The space is less a retreat than a focused workplace – embedded in a region with a long sculptural tradition. Here, life-sized wooden figures emerge from drawings and plasticine models. From the first sketch, through the so-called „hewing", to the final finishing and colouring, each work develops in an open process. Materials and surfaces, too, are continually tested and combined anew. Every phase demands intense engagement – both with the themes and moods of the figure and with its technical execution as well as the sculptural questions that arise during the work process.
