Local Artist Spends Six Years Crafting Striking Sculptures from Matches

Međimurje artist Tomislav Horvat has made a name for himself in the art world with his stunning sculptures made from matches. His work requires a lot of time, effort, and patience, but he loves every moment of it.

“I have always loved to draw,” says Tomislav, “even as a boy I went to various drawing workshops and that’s actually how it all started.” In high school, he was fascinated by the art history class and it sparked his curiosity about art. He was particularly inspired by the mosaic made of ceramics from the Italian Renaissance, which led him to experiment with creating three-dimensional objects from matches.

Tomislav’s first sculpture, “The Godfather,” was completed in 2013 and consisted of 117,000 matches installed in a life-sized figure. He followed this up with “The Pianist,” inspired by Mozart, which incorporated 210,000 matches into its design. However, his most recent work is a sculpture called “Desperate,” which depicts a man on his knees with a suitcase by his side, parting ways with his family. This sculpture is meant to represent the problem of displacement and the search for a safer existence.

Tomislav is currently working on a new sculpture called “The Creator,” which will be inspired by Michelangelo working on his masterpiece David. The sculpture will consist of 400,000 matches and is expected to take another six years to complete. Despite the time and effort required for each piece, Tomislav remains committed to continuing his work in this unique medium.