Stone-Ideas.com 
“Sometimes you just have to let yourself drift and follow your inspiration,” says Alfred Mevissen about his innovative approach to art with stone. A sculptor by trade, he describes three-dimensionality as his great passion. By this, he means that he carves his objects from a raw block, as is customary.
In his current exhibition, however, he presents works where the intervention in the material is minimal: he works only on the surface, creating specific structures. He sometimes adds an object to these structures, creating a scene on the surface.
In “Surf,” for example, he has partially polished the white marble to a high gloss and partially ground it, resulting in horizontal lines that suggest waves on a coast. The two birds in the sky above complete the scene.
In some cases, he adds almost nothing to the original, as in the case of “Big Bang.”
In other cases, such as “Sunrise,” he enhances a structure with color by applying wood stain to the stone surface. Together with intricate details that depict mountaineers, the image emerges.
The idea for this type of art arises from observing the original piece, says Mevissen.
The question then arises: Is this still sculpture or already painting?
In addition to his works in Göflan and Laas marble, he has also used serpentinite.
Mevissen worked for nearly a decade in the management of a pharmaceutical company. At some point, during a management training course, he met a sculptor, and working with stone influenced his thinking. His guiding principle became “Reduce to Grow,” analogous to sculpture, where the artist removes something from the raw block to create something new and artistically greater.
After several years working part-time while carving stone, he left the pharmaceutical company.
Since then, the idea of Europe has taken center stage for him, hardly surprising given his Rhineland roots, where the river connects many European countries, fostering good neighborly relations.
One of Mevissen’s projects was the 2016 art project “Pillars of Freedom,” featuring 112 sculptures by around 100 artists, installed in 20 European countries. In 2018, he founded the association “Art Moves Europe,” which includes the “European Sculpture Trail” and the “Boundarystones of Society” project.
To date, Mevissen has created well over 30 sculptures, some of them monumental, for all these projects, using various materials such as sandstone, granite, basalt, and marble. Most of these sculptures are permanent public art installations in prominent locations throughout Europe.
The new works will be shown in a joint exhibition at the Schaffrathhaus in 52477 Alsdorf, Theodor-Seipp-Strasse 118 from June 14th to 28th, 2026.
