Hendoc, born as Hendrik Docken in West-Berlin, moved to the forests near Frankfurt in 1968. He lives with his son Nick and his wife in the middle of the forest near a spring well in a small castle. The reason he doesn't like neighbours – or they did not like him – is due to his work on giant tree trunks with huge chainsaws. Hendoc only uses trees, which fell down on their own or had to be cut for security reasons.
A tree rings show the signs of history and time, so often you can find stories of the climate over the past 300 years in his works. This makes the wood used so special to Hendoc. In his formal work he is concentrating on archetypical symbols like blood cells, eagles, bull horns, fire, water drops and the female body.
Since 12 years he has been gold plating some sculptures as well. Gold is an essential natural resource for Hendoc and he personally goes gold mining in Alaska every year for 2 weeks to wash the gold that eventually embraces his works. The qualities of gold in particular in combination with wood and other natural materials fascinate Hendoc every day.
Since 1992 he exhibits his work worldwide in various galleries and art shows. He won many prizes but wining the German Youth Crime Prevention Prize in 2004 is his personal favorite out of the many honors bestowed upon him since he was the first civilian who won this prize, which is normally reserved for police presidents.
Hendoc will be visiting Hong Kong from the 18th -24th May 2009 and staying on a traditional 3-mast Chinese Junk in the Aberdeen Harbour kindly sponsored by Saffron Cruises (
www.saffron-cruises.com) to complete some works under the influence of metropolitan Hong Kong and its heritage.
When and where to meet Hendoc:
18th -24th May 2009
Aberdeen Harbour
By appointment only: Tel. 2151 3772
