Hannah Philomena Scheiber transforms the supports of two glacier lifts into monumental works of art.

At 3,440 meters, between rock, ice and sky, artist Hannah Philomena Scheiber worked for months suspended freely on a rope to transform the supports of two cable cars into monumental works of art – those of the Wildspitzbahn on the Pitztal Glacier, the highest cable car in Austria, and those of the Karlesjochbahn on the Kaunertal Glacier, at the tripoint of Austria, Italy and Switzerland.

What is usually created in the protected space of a studio, Scheiber relocated to the heart of the alpine landscape, to the exterior of technical infrastructure, several hundred meters above the valley floor. Secured by ropes and under varying weather conditions, she worked on the steel and concrete supports of the two cable cars for months. Wind, cold, and working at high altitude made every single step a challenge.

Art is what remains when the glacier recedes.

Scheiber has been artistically exploring the tension between natural environment and human intervention for 15 years; on the glacier itself, where this change is visible and measurable, the work gains an additional, immediate urgency.

The location of the artistic project is no coincidence: The Gepatschferner, where both glacier regions are located, is the largest glacier in Austria in terms of area and, like many glaciers in the Alps, is increasingly characterized by retreat and melting.

“Where nature leaves its mark, this artistic intervention sets a sign, between transience and eternity,” Scheiber summarizes.

Austria's highest cable car and event location

The art doesn't end at the cable car pylons, however, but offers a second point of access at the Wildspitzbahn mountain station at 3,440 meters above sea level. There, further works by Hannah Philomena Scheiber can be seen. Those who can't experience the works directly on the cable car pylons can gain an additional insight into the artist's work here – amidst the glacial landscape and high above the valley.

For Beate Rubatscher-Larcher, managing director of the Pitztal Glacier Railway, this unusual location holds a special quality: “Art can change our perspective. Especially on the glacier, nature and human design meet directly. The infrastructure itself becomes a canvas – thus opening up a different view of the mountain, of change, and of our responsibility for the alpine future.”

This will make the mountain station the highest venue for encounters, art and culture in Austria, and will continue the exploration of landscape, change and human intervention.

Hannah Philomena Scheiber, born in 1991 in Tyrol, lives and works in the Ötztal Valley. From 2011 to 2016, she studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, graduating with a diploma in 2016. In 2014, an OEAD scholarship took her to the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. In 2016, Scheiber moved to New York City and continued her studies at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in the "Design for Social Innovation" program under Jerry Saltz and Stefan Sagmeister. In 2021, she received a working grant from the State of Tyrol. Since 2024, she has been teaching "Art & Design" at the Edith Stein University College of Teacher Education.

The themes of humanity, home, and nature are central to Scheiber's artistic work. Water, glaciers, and alpine landscapes, as well as the transience of nature, have shaped her work for more than a decade. She moves between abstraction and realism, repeatedly exploring the vulnerability of glaciers, the changing alpine landscape, and the traces of human intervention. With her work on the glacier railways, Scheiber once again departs from the traditional canvas: the landscape itself becomes the support for her painting.

Scheiber's works have been presented in galleries and museums throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and the USA. Her pieces are held in renowned private and institutional collections, including Reinhold Messner's Mountain Museums. Her collectors include Marina Hoermanseder and DJ Ötzi.

More information at https://hannahphilomena.art/