Alüf (Eric Mathieu Niehe)
Eric, known artistically as Alüf, is a sculptor devoted to exploring the fundamental geometries of existence through the medium of crystal glass. An avid student of sacred geometry and metaphysical/spiritual philosophy, Alüf’s work bridges the visible and the invisible, offering glimpses of universal harmony in solid form.
During extensive travels across Europe, Asia, and the Americas in his twenties, Alüf encountered the awe-inspiring tradition of cold-worked crystal glass art. This discovery sparked a lifelong, self-taught journey of technical mastery and spiritual deepening. Through countless hours of meditative craftsmanship, he has cultivated a practice where art-making becomes a sacred act — a dialogue between material, light, and the unseen.
Each sculpture undergoes numerous cycles of cutting, grinding, polishing, and fusing requiring between eight to sixteen weeks of meticulous, intentional work. The resulting pieces are timeless crystal artifacts, envisioned as modern artifacts imbued with profound energetic resonance — designed to be treasured across generations.
Inspired by the principles of chromatherapy (color therapy), Alüf intentionally integrates color as a vital energetic element within his sculptures. Carefully selected hues are embedded within the crystal forms to evoke specific emotional and spiritual responses, encouraging healing, balance, and elevated states of consciousness. Each color choice serves as both aesthetic inspiration and vibrational medicine, blending and synergizing the physical and metaphysical impacts of the work.
At the core of Alüf’s creative pursuit is a desire to kindle moments of awe, wonder, and deep joy in those who experience his work. He considers himself not the originator but rather a channel through which light, form, and spirit are woven together into lasting symbols of beauty. His mission is to create objects that not only elevate physical spaces but also invite reflection, reverence, and connection to the greater mysteries of life.
His work has been privately collected internationally, and he continues to pursue new dialogues between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary metaphysical art.
It was during one of these adventures that he discovered the art of cold-working. He knew he had found his artistic medium and his epic journey began.
Eric intentionally designs sacred geometrical artwork and focuses on maximizing beauty & elegance in white light, while also imbuing magical qualities only revealed in the dark with laser light. His “paints” consist of natural crystals & Minerals, precious/semi precious stones as well as optical crystal & dichroic glass while his hands and grinding machines are his “paintbrushes”.
As a former head chef, Eric’s choice of art medium reflects his proclivity towards a challenge. With no formal training available for high level cold-work sculpting, Eric is completely self-taught.
A constant pursuit of perfection, cold-work sculpting is a highly difficult practice to undertake due to the relatively extreme investment cost of equipment, materials, time & energy to even begin the journey. Only a handful of masters on earth exist as the secrets of the practice are closely guarded.
His Artist philosophy is that each piece he is about to create will be his best piece yet. Although it may be his 100th or 1000th piece, this new piece may be the only piece his client receives; each piece is created with the utmost care and attention to detail. Each new artwork has its own unique story, each side a new adventure.
Along his artistic discovery journey, Eric quickly realized the potential his artwork could have in the dark with laser light. Each additional outside facet and inside layer of certain elements creates a unique reflection/refraction/splitting nexus point for the laser, exponentially adding to the effect. Once you surpass a certain threshold of these nexus points, the result is absolutely breathtaking.
The dazzling colourful display is enjoyed for its invigorating, yet soothing therapeutic effects. With that in mind, He intentionally designs many of his pieces now to further explore and maximize this potential.
His artistic and spiritual journeys have coincided and inevitably influenced & complimented each other. This becomes apparent when analyzing the intentional design structure, contents and motifs of his artwork.
In stark contrast to the other cold-work masters, Eric is looking forward to developing his studio into a teaching space & expanding into mixed mediums by merging his crystals with clay, cement, and metallic design elements; Inspiring the next generation of artists & exponentially widening his range of creative possibilities.
