German artist Wolfgang Stiller carves chilling sculptures of heads out of tree trunks. Stiller talks us through his inspiration for his latest installation, Little Suckers, which has just returned from an exhibit at the Wuhan Art Museum in China.

An idea which stemmed from the Norwegian forest which surrounded Stiller during an artist residency at the Nordsik art center NKD, Little Suckers comes out of a fascination with something called a “Ginseng spirit”: “According to a Chinese tale,” Stiller tells The Creators Project, “Ginseng spirits appear as a baby like creature. If one is lucky enough to help out a Ginseng spirit in needs, the Ginseng spirit will repay by showing that person where the rare Ginseng root is hidden.”

“I found this beautiful root of a tree which reminded me of a ginseng root,” Stiller continues. “The baby head was a perfect fit.” The final version of the sculpture seen above is made of bronze and stands just above 4′. Stiller’s work will be on show at the Nächste Ausstellung in der Kulturfabrik Apolda gallery, Berlin from August 28th till October 11th of this year.

For more on Stiller and his work, check out his website.

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