Incollect Magazine - Issue 11

26 www.incollect.com He works in Hanover, Germany, where he has a 6,000-square-foot studio and team of eight studio assistants where they make 30 or more design pieces a year, depending on their size and complexity. He also works without the aid of outside fabricators, which distinguishes him from other makers, most of whom tend to outsource some components during the production process. Haase does his own bronze casting, stone carving, wood turning and even makes his own cast glass for designs, a skill which is not easy to master. “The difference with Markus is that he came to furniture and lighting design with 25 years of experience as a sculptor, and he can make anything,” Merrill says. “I represent a lot of makers and he is the real deal. He’s an artist making furniture and lighting,” Merrill says, “and not the other way around.” Interior designers are in agreement with Merrill. Francis Nicdao, Principal & Chief Creative Officer of New York City interior design firm Pembrooke & Ives describes Haase as an “extraordinary talent and a truly inspiring collaborator.” He continues: “I’ve had the privilege of working with him from the very inception of a project to its breathtaking installation — where he even crafted his own scaffolding to install his own art. His skilled, artisanal touch, deep reverence for the finest materials, and his gift for creating one-of-a-kind forms invite admiration from every angle, whether you’re standing close or viewing from afar,” Nicdao says. Haase began his career studying to become an electrician before he gave it up, and apprenticed with a master stonemason in Germany. He worked for over a decade as an artistic stone carver, repairing and restoring stone elements of churches and other historic buildings across Europe before deciding it was time to devote himself entirely to his own artwork. He moved to New York, set up a studio in Brooklyn, and dedicated himself to making minimal stone sculptures with clean lines and harmonious forms. Haase’s decades of experience as a sculptor (and electrician) are evident in everything from the expert treatment of materials to the technical perfection and flawless functionality of his pieces. “I spend way too much time and money laboring to get things to be just right, perfect,” the artist says. But in truth, he doesn’t mind because it is the artistic challenge that keeps him engaged and agile, he says. His early Bang series of cantilevered, hand-carved wood and stone laminated consoles shaped like a gun are a good example of his dedication to detail and to craftsmanship. “This is an amazing piece of design,” Merrill says. “Smooth undulations of walnut somehow appear as malleable as drapery, while giving off an overall sense of movement and speed to mimic a bullet from a gun.” Even more complex designs followed as Haase mastered the technique of stack lamination — combining multiple layers of stone and wood to create a larger block from which forms are carved. For the Aeolian series of side tables and low tables, inspired by ripples in windblown sand, the artist created delicately ribbed and undulating Markus Haase, Sculptural Sconce in Polished Bronze and Onyx, DE, 2023. Photo: Simon Leung. Courtesy of Todd Merrill Studio. Markus Haase, The Crossover Table, USA, 2014. Photo: Simon Leung. Courtesy of Todd Merrill Studio.