Brother Janez Hollenstein’s metal sculptures 
echo a redemptive message from the solitude
of the Charterhouse of Pleterje
Eloquent Silence Cultural Society
ECHO OF SILENCE
EC
HO
 OF
 SIL
EN
CE
EC
HO
 OF
 SIL
EN
CE
m e t a l  s c u l p t u r e s
ASCENDING  RESURRECTION  ILLUMINATION
ECHO OF SILENCE
EC
HO
 OF
 SIL
EN
CE



COR AD COR LOQUITUR
IN MEMORIAM prior Janez Drolc
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji 
Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 
730(497.4):929Hollenstein J. 
7:27-523.6(497.4) 
HOLLENSTEIN, Janez 
        Echo of silence : ascending, resurrection, illumination 
: metal sculptures / Janez Hollenstein ; [texts Janez 
Hollenstein ... [et al.] ; [English translation Jason Blake, 
Nada Marija Grošelj (poems) ; field photographs Zvone 
Pelko, studio photographs Blaž Jamšek]. - [Ljubljana] : 
Eloquent Silence Cultural Society, 2018 
Izv. stv. nasl.: Odmev tišine 
ISBN 978-961-288-272-3 
293746176 
m e t a l  s c u l p t u r e s
ECHO OF SILENCE
ASCENDING  RESURRECTION  ILLUMINATION

t a b l e  o f  c o n t e n t s
ORA et LABORA 5–16page
A PLAIT OF LINES AND  
THE LOOP OF REDEMPTION
17–18
page
ASCENDING 19–52page
RESURRECTION 53–66page
ILLUMINATION 67–88page
FORMS OF TRIUMPHANT LIFE BORN 
IN THE HEART OF FIRE
89–98
page
THE DIVINE GARDENER 99–106page
ECHO OF SILENCE
Fo
r n
ot
hi
ng
 is
 to
 b
e p
re
fe
rr
ed
 to
 th
e W
or
k 
of
 G
od
. (
St
 53
.1
)
A 
m
on
k,
 th
er
ef
or
e, 
pr
ov
id
ed
 h
e s
tri
ve
s c
on
tin
ua
lly
 to
 cl
in
g t
o 
Go
d,
 
ex
em
pl
ifi
es
 w
ith
in
 h
im
se
lf 
wh
at
 is
 si
gn
ifi
ed
 b
y t
he
 en
tir
e L
itu
rg
y. 
(S
t 4
1.
4)
5
Because discipleship comes in 
many forms, different forms of 
Christian spirituality have been 
and continue to be created. 
One such form is the monastic 
spirituality to which also the Car-
thusian tradition belongs. The 
essence of monastic spirituality lies in bal-
ancing liturgy, lectio divina (spiritual reading 
of the Bible that leads to prayer), and work. 
The first, liturgy, sets the rhythm for monastic 
life. Monks develop these core values either 
in groups (in monastic communities) or in-
dividually (as hermits or anchorites). Peculiar 
to the Carthusians is the link between both 
forms of life: we are a community of hermits, 
emphasising eremitism.
Such is the institutional framework in which 
the Carthusian lives, such is the skeleton to 
which each one, in complete freedom, has 
to add “meat.” Our Statutes, which are true to 
St. Bruno and the first Carthusians, clearly lean 
on the monastic spirituality of the Christian 
East, albeit in the guise given to it by St. John 
Cassian and St. Benedict. This, however, does 
not preclude other spiritual methods, as long 
as they can be folded into the given frame-
work. Each monk, thus, must walk his path 
alone and find a synthesis between his voca-
tion and the structure that surrounds him. The 
great spiritual freedom which is the heritage 
of hermetic life is the key to Carthusian spirit-
uality. Living in a Carthusian community, thus, 
means living among people who differ great-
ly in terms of origin, upbringing and interests. 
That is why our order has never been equated 
with just a single notable member’s spirituality.
 ORA et LABORA1
Brother Janez Hollenstein
1 These passage are taken from texts that the author published in the book 
J. Hollenstein, T. Lauko, ZGOVORNA TIŠINA [Eloquent Silence], Pleterje Charterhouse 1986.
ECHO OF SILENCE
6
7
A monastery, which strives to be the Church 
in miniature, must be a community of true 
worshipers of God and devoid of other inter-
ests. Liturgy, which is the highest form of wor-
ship because it represents the Easter mys-
tery, shapes the community, the Church. Our 
Statutes say: “When we celebrate the divine 
worship in choir, or recite the Office in cell, it 
is the prayer of the Church which is being 
offered by our lips; for the prayer of Christ is 
one, and through the Sacred Liturgy, this one 
prayer is wholly present in each member. But 
among solitary monks, liturgical acts manifest 
in a special way the nature of the Church in 
which the human is directed and subjected 
to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action 
to contemplation.”
The eremitic experience is relevant for anyone 
who believes: “Whoever reaches the depths of 
his self should be ready to confront his weak-
ness and vulnerability, his impotence and lim-
itedness. The desert experience is the essence 
of eremitism: God reveals that contact point 
on which he wishes to work creatively in an 
individual. Mercy enters the heart that is bro-
ken and contrite (Ps 51, 19). This entry requires 
a preliminary renting of the self, a painful be-
ginning. In a parable, one would say that with 
that renting, the criteria of ‘built-up places and 
‘cultivated earth’ are broken, for now a man 
is no longer capable of bringing anything 
under his rule through planning and calcu-
lation.  Eremitic spirituality is therefore a kind 
of ‘ground zero spirituality’ through which the 
believer descends into that ultimate nullifica-
tion that Christ experienced.”✴
✴M. Niggemeyer, Wüste — Landschaft und Lebensform.
Co
ns
id
er
 w
ell
, b
ef
or
e g
iv
in
g y
ou
rs
elf
 to
 th
e w
ay
 of
 so
lit
ud
e, 
wh
et
he
r y
ou
 w
ill
 b
e a
 so
un
d 
co
m
pa
ni
on
 u
nt
o 
yo
ur
se
lf.
 (M
. v
on
 E
bn
er
 E
sc
he
nb
ac
h)
8
To
 th
e p
ra
ise
 of
 th
e g
lo
ry
 of
 G
od
, C
hr
ist
, t
he
 F
at
he
r’s
 W
or
d,
 h
as
 th
ro
ug
h 
th
e H
ol
y S
pi
rit
, f
ro
m
 th
e b
eg
in
ni
ng
 ch
os
en
 ce
rta
in
 m
en
, 
wh
om
 h
e w
ill
ed
 to
 le
ad
 in
to
 so
lit
ud
e a
nd
 u
ni
te
 to
 h
im
se
lf 
in
 in
tim
at
e l
ov
e. 
(S
t 1
.1
)
Ou
r l
ife
 cl
ea
rly
 sh
ow
s t
ha
t s
om
et
hi
ng
 of
 th
e j
oy
s o
f h
ea
ve
n 
is 
pr
es
en
t a
lre
ad
y h
er
e b
elo
w
;
it 
pr
efi
gu
re
s o
ur
 ri
se
n 
sta
te
 an
d 
an
tic
ip
at
es
 in
 a 
m
an
ne
r t
he
 fi
na
l r
en
ew
al 
of
 th
e w
or
ld
. (
St
 34
.3
)
9
10
Li
be
rty
 of
 sp
iri
t i
s a
 m
ar
k 
of
 th
e s
ol
ita
ry
 li
fe
. Th
e L
itu
rg
y c
ele
br
at
ed
 in
 th
e s
ec
re
t o
f t
he
 ce
ll 
sh
ou
ld
 re
fle
ct
 th
is,
 
be
 in
 p
ro
fo
un
d 
ha
rm
on
y w
ith
 th
e a
sp
ira
tio
ns
 of
 th
e h
ea
rt,
 w
hi
le 
alw
ay
s r
em
ai
ni
ng
 an
 ac
t o
f o
ur
 co
m
m
un
ity
 li
fe
. (
St
 21
.7
)
11
Tracing the history of especially our order’s mo-
nasticism, we see a constant work-related ten-
sion. Even today, despite our updated Statutes, 
our order still does not have a satisfactory answer 
to this concern, at least as it pertains to the work 
of the monk in the cell. Whence the tension? 
The monk’s dilemma has always been between 
alienation and spiritualization as a flight from a 
hard struggle for bread. Such are the tempta-
tions to which individuals and even entire groups 
have succumbed in the past. The great fathers 
of monasticism – Pachomius, Basil, Cassian, Ben-
edict and the 11th-century reformers – did not 
strive to humanize work, since in those pre-assem-
bly-line times that was not a concern. Instead, 
they wanted to spiritualize work as a religious act 
and humanize it thus. The monk seeks neither 
self-realization through creativity nor spiritual bal-
ance – though already Cassian recognized this 
possibility, even this need – but seeks some form 
of prayer. Work has become an integral part of 
the monk’s contemplative life. This viewpoint does 
not rob work of its practical importance – i.e., in-
come and achieving a balanced life within the 
community; rather, it weaves work into the monk’s 
and the community’s contemplative life, shield-
ing monk and monastic community alike from 
the profit motive. Though monks will not solve to-
day’s work-related difficulties, they do try to live ac-
cording to this principle: prayer, which is always 
personal and thus human, should regulate work. 
Our Statutes require that the monks not forsake 
their internal and external freedom on account 
of work. That being said, the same requirement is 
established by the old monastic statutes in con-
nection with prayer; there, too, an excessive focus 
on results can arise.
12
Th
e h
ea
rt,
 h
ow
ev
er,
 is
 n
ot
 n
ar
ro
we
d 
bu
t e
nl
ar
ge
d 
by
 in
tim
ac
y w
ith
 G
od
, s
o t
ha
t i
t i
s a
bl
e t
o e
m
br
ac
e 
in
 h
im
 th
e h
op
es
 an
d 
di
ffi
cu
lti
es
 of
 th
e w
or
ld
, a
nd
 th
e g
re
at
 ca
us
es
 o
f t
he
 C
hu
rc
h.
 (S
t 6
.6
)
In
 p
ra
ise
 of
 G
od
 —
 fo
r w
hi
ch
 th
e h
er
m
it 
Or
de
r o
f C
ar
th
us
ia
ns
 w
as
 fo
un
de
d 
in
 a 
sp
ec
ia
l w
ay
 —
 le
t u
s d
ed
ica
te
 ou
rs
elv
es
 to
 th
e p
ea
ce
 an
d 
sil
en
ce
 of
 ou
r c
ell
s 
an
d 
str
iv
e t
o 
off
er
 h
im
 u
nc
ea
sin
g w
or
sh
ip
. (
St
 34
.5
)
13
Monastic rules warn that idleness is an “under-
estimating” of one’s own powers that leads to 
weakness and laziness, such that the monk might 
even find himself unable to pray sincerely. Our re-
lationship with God and society balances prayer 
and work. Close to idleness are dilettantism and 
distraction as a retreat into one’s own imagina-
tive world, a flight into “pure spirituality,” or even the 
danger of working to suit one’s fellow man: such 
temptations and delusions, which we monks en-
counter again and again, could even lead to 
spiritual exhaustion. In contrast, however, fatigue 
and rest after exhausting work are necessary for 
maintaining resilience; testing our own bounda-
ries is an opportunity for encountering God. When 
work overwhelms a person, such as when he has 
too much to do in too short a time, or when the 
work is drab and forced, stress ensues. If the work 
is imbued with prayer, however, there is no such 
danger. When you work prayerfully, you trust in 
God and the self is less important. Trusting in God 
unburdens you and leads to an easing, though 
not to irresponsibility. The Motives become clearer: 
monastic work implies service, not self-assertion. 
Our Statues explicitly warn against covetousness 
(today we would say careerism). In the monas-
tic tradition, especially manual labour is a form 
of humility with which we accept the boundaries 
of work and our capacity to work. Ultimately, our 
Statutes see communal work, commanding and 
obedience from a religious perspective.
In the charterhouse, work must be a site of spiritual 
life. Our Statutes justify this standpoint, both prac-
tically and theologically: “At appointed times, the 
brothers apply themselves to the work of providing 
for the needs of the House, in order that, in union 
with Jesus, a workman’s son, they may glorify God 
the Father and associate the entire man in the work 
of redemption. […]  Ancient monastic tradition as-
sures us that such work contributes greatly to the 
practice of those virtues from which flows perfect 
love.” Work is thus indelibly linked with serving God: 
“Wherefore, in praise of God — for which the her-
mit Order of Carthusians was founded in a special 
way — let us dedicate ourselves to the peace and 
silence of our cells and strive to offer him unceasing 
worship, so that, sanctified in truth, we may be those 
true worshippers whom the Father seeks.”
14
Go
d 
ha
s l
ed
 u
s i
nt
o 
so
lit
ud
e t
o 
sp
ea
k 
to
 ou
r h
ea
rt.
 L
et
 ou
r h
ea
rt 
th
en
 b
e 
a l
iv
in
g a
lta
r f
ro
m
 w
hi
ch
 th
er
e c
on
sta
nt
ly
 as
ce
nd
s b
ef
or
e G
od
 p
ur
e p
ra
ye
r, 
wi
th
 w
hi
ch
 al
l o
ur
 ac
ts 
sh
ou
ld
 b
e i
m
bu
ed
. (
St
4.
11
)
He
re
 on
e c
an
 ac
qu
ire
 th
at
 ey
e w
hi
ch
, w
ith
 it
s c
lea
r v
isi
on
, w
ou
nd
s t
he
 Sp
ou
se
 w
ith
 lo
ve
, 
wh
os
e p
ur
en
es
s c
an
 se
e G
od
. (
St
. B
ru
no
, L
et
te
r t
o 
Ra
ou
l, 
6)
15
By
 h
is 
lab
or
 a 
m
an
 o
rd
in
ar
ily
 su
pp
or
ts 
hi
m
se
lf 
an
d 
hi
s f
am
ily
, 
is 
jo
in
ed
 to
 h
is 
fe
llo
w 
m
en
 an
d 
se
rv
es
 th
em
, a
nd
 ca
n 
ex
er
cis
e g
en
ui
ne
 ch
ar
ity
 
an
d 
be
 a 
pa
rtn
er
 in
 th
e w
or
k 
of
 b
rin
gi
ng
 d
iv
in
e c
re
at
io
n 
to
 p
er
fe
ct
io
n.
 (G
S 6
7.
2)
16
17
A PLAIT OF LINES 
AND THE LOOP OF REDEMPTION
The title ECHO OF SILENCE is de-
rived from what is the prelude to 
revelation: God comes only to 
the soul ruled by Silence. For a 
monk, this is a great process.
Carthusian life is guided by 
the Word (Dt. 6:4). Liturgy and 
psalm-singing in the church are followed by 
rest in an isolated cell, silent prayer, reading, 
contemplation, and manual labour under 
the watchfulness of God. Fire, the anvil under 
Brother Janez Hollenstein’s hammer, along 
with his free mind and pure heart, reshape 
the discarded iron into curved lines that be-
speak the swirling universe.
Because the sculptures have gone unnamed, 
the viewer can create his own symbolism and 
bring them to life. ASCENDING evokes snakes 
winding upwards from the ground. The quan-
tum leap into a new life is reflected in RESUR-
RECTION and its Easter images of Crucifixion. 
Altar candlesticks and worshipping hands 
conclude the passion chain in ILLUMINATION, 
with its creation hymn and redemptive mes-
sage with the angel on the stone. THE DIVINE 
GARDENER resounds and extends into the 
natural and urban environment.
The metal sculptures rest on stones from both 
sides of Gorjanci, their patina determined by 
the time and space of our earthly existence. 
Though the body fades, the carved inscrip-
tion in the stone and the iron remains as a 
powerful memory of all that could not be illu-
minated in the echo of Silence.
Zvone Pelko
ECHO OF SILENCE
18
19
ASCENDING
The spirit’s coil of flame,
released in curves of serpentines
to sky’s eternal light.
The dancing earth-folk, sprouting blades,
arising from the deep confines
to heaven’s stride.
 
ECHO OF SILENCE
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
RESURRECTION
Man, risen, with his arms spread wide,
stepped into the eternal gyre:
into a wheel of fire,
which quickens everlasting skies,
spurred by the boundless and divine.
ECHO OF SILENCE
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
ILLUMINATION
The spread arms face the fire of touch.
The spirit soars from cross to life,
to glimmer on the candle cup.
Darting higher,
it lights eternal fire,
illumining the heights.
ECHO OF SILENCE
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
FORMS OF TRIUMPHANT LIFE BORN 
IN THE HEART OF FIRE
In the silence of the Pleterje Carthu-
sian monastery, Brother Janez Hol-
lenstein pours his prayerful medi-
tation, which is aimed at contact 
with God, into his fine art. He redi-
rects his material – namely, scrap 
metal, usually discarded fences, 
barrel hoops and the like – towards spiritual ho-
rizons and, through his forging, recuperates and 
dematerializes it. He forges his absorption heav-
enwards by taming metal elements, like a true 
monastic smith of spiritual life. Hollenstein’s train-
ing began already in primary school, where the 
emphasis was on crafts, and it continued at his 
arts-focused high school. 
Hollenstein transforms iron into transparent form, 
into symbolic expression, an embodied idea, the 
essence of which is captured in an upward-rising, 
often undulating gentle dance. Here the turmoil 
of the spirit is equated with the principle of growth 
or with the flickering flames and fire-hardened 
metal strips which – framed into circular forms of 
perfection – embrace the inner space or open 
outwards. Under this monk’s hammer, these round 
or flat, tendril-like bands willingly curl and form into 
organisms where everything is subordinate to a 
bursting or enthusiasm that is rounded off into 
allusive scenes or abstract signs. The wavy iron 
bands are like an author’s handwriting, expressing 
the impetus of his religious longing and creative 
thought. That is why Hollenstein’s metal sculptur-
al drawings are constantly dynamic and willing; 
they are consistently elegant in their willingness, 
devoid of sharp edges, and harmonized, ascetic; 
yet at same time they possess the rhythmicality of 
a sprouting, of a spreading-out, in all directions, re-
maining expressly playful and easeful.
Milček Komelj
ECHO OF SILENCE
90
The vital, propelling ascent is captured like 
an original principle, like the natural growth 
and movement of living beings. In this spirit, 
the artist once told Zvone Pelko, the President 
of the Eloquent Silence Cultural Society, that 
the cleanest forms in nature are those of a 
blade of grass and of a snake. Already in his 
early works Hollenstein called forth the blade, 
which rises like a whetted spear from the 
iron base. The vibrant, winding snake, mean-
while, is simultaneously abstract and an al-
lusion to a natural form; but also the snake, 
ascending like ritual dancers, rises from the 
earth and, in a rhythmically-coordinated di-
alogue, even assumes a heart-like form. For 
Hollenstein this is of course not the evil biblical 
snake, but more an archetypal, mythical be-
ing that hints at an almost sacred meaning, 
as in ancient oriental cultures or in the mod-
ern art of the painter Janez Bernik. Otherwise, 
all these snake-like forms are gently plaited, 
bending and protruding in soft knots, in a 
sign of enthusiasm or in a spiral that is in har-
mony with the artist’s belief that the path to 
God is never straightforward. With his impetus 
towards the heavens, Hollenstein symbolizes 
the resurrection, or at least the direction and 
the enthusiasm of spiritual growth; shapes 
can also emerge from the circumferences; in 
the embrace of cosmic rings, they encoun-
ter their conjoining tendril projections like the 
expansive hands of acrobats on an invisible 
trapeze, they are interwoven into a symbolic 
image of the Crucifixion, or assume a circu-
larity that hints at the Holy Trinity. Sometimes 
the circular forms evoke the rotating sun and 
its flaming rays; the bending, plaited dance of 
forms extends bodily into space, like a dance 
dialogue carried out by the legendary Pino 
and Pia Mlakar, artists who understood how 
to express the ascent of the spirit, how to cap-
ture it in bodily movements that seek to forgo 
gravity and break free of the earth. In one of 
the dance compositions, in harmony with its 
cultural origin, the artist unveiled a memory of 
the dance of the Rhinemaidens in the space 
between the celestial rings.
91
Li
te
ra
tu
re
 an
d 
th
e a
rts
 ar
e a
lso
, i
n 
th
eir
 ow
n 
wa
y, 
of
 gr
ea
t i
m
po
rta
nc
e t
o 
th
e l
ife
 of
 th
e C
hu
rc
h.
Th
ey
 st
riv
e t
o 
m
ak
e k
no
wn
 th
e p
ro
pe
r n
at
ur
e o
f m
an
, h
is 
pr
ob
lem
s a
nd
 h
is 
ex
pe
rie
nc
es
 
in
 tr
yi
ng
 to
 k
no
w 
an
d 
pe
rfe
ct
 b
ot
h 
hi
m
se
lf 
an
d 
th
e w
or
ld
. (
GS
 62
.3
)
92
Th
e c
lo
ist
er
 m
on
ks
, b
ou
nd
 b
y t
he
 d
iv
in
e l
aw
 o
f w
or
k 
in
 th
e d
isc
ha
rg
e o
f t
he
ir 
du
tie
s, 
fly
 id
len
es
s, 
th
e e
ne
m
y, 
th
e a
nc
ien
ts 
te
ll 
us
, o
f t
he
 so
ul
. (
St
 5.
1)
93
Hollenstein’s sculptures are optically encom-
passed in a circular ascending, expressing 
the movement of life not in fragmentations 
of added or subtracted sculptural mass and 
material weight, but in soft folds.  In harmo-
ny with his ideas, this artist bends the iron 
bands or rods as he, creatively and piously 
inspired, hammers at the glowing iron, think-
ing of God’s presence and longing for God. 
Thus his smith’s hands transform the materi-
al, however heavy, into a fluid weightlessness 
and relaxed easefulness that look as natural 
as sprouting plants. Even though his art is lin-
ear in construction, it is not sharp-edged, not 
squarely architectural or mechanically as-
sembled. Rather, its uninterrupted flow is mu-
sical to the core, for its evoker is, to the core, 
devoted to a spiritual absorption. 
It is evident that this dance of sculptural form 
is like a temple to its creator, if not like a veri-
table initiation rite. Hollenstein’s frail yet deter-
mined lines have a spiritual air of dancing, 
moving, growing from a spiritual centre like 
extended leaves and plaits of agave, com-
ing (or at least seeming to become) organi-
cally alive. There each fold preserves its inner 
meaning, harmonized with the whole or its 
idea; but in this complexity lies a cosmic har-
mony, not empty decoration and entreaty, for 
it is consecrated through the eyes of a genu-
ine Carthusian monk who has devoted his life 
to God.
94
Hollenstein’s clear art is pure, spiritual and 
symbolic in form, even when, as with his 
candlesticks, it is useful. But also here his art 
is consecrated to ritual, for it is suitable also 
for being placed on the base of a refectory 
altar. Among his more concrete forms are a 
sculpture of hands that are raised in prayer, 
with fingers that look like plant leaves, albeit 
not in the manner of Auguste Rodin’s marble 
The Cathedral. In the case of Brother Hollen-
stein, however, even an antiphonary can be 
prayerfully held in one’s hands.
In
de
ed
, w
e h
ol
d 
th
at
 th
ro
ug
h 
lab
or
 off
er
ed
 to
 G
od
 m
an
 is
 as
so
cia
te
d 
wi
th
 th
e r
ed
em
pt
iv
e w
or
k 
of
 Je
su
s C
hr
ist
, W
ho
 co
nf
er
re
d 
an
 em
in
en
t d
ig
ni
ty
 
on
 la
bo
r w
he
n 
at
 N
az
ar
et
h 
He
 w
or
ke
d 
wi
th
 H
is 
ow
n 
ha
nd
s. 
(G
S 6
7.
2)
95
Hollenstein’s vibrant art is neither sweetly devo-
tional nor conventional; rather, it is abstractly 
modernist, his point of departure being the 
transcendence and genuine purity found in 
medieval Carthusian architecture, the con-
struction of which is dictated by a spiritual 
impetus. It captures sound and harmony, is 
completely devoted to the stimulation of the 
spiritual impulse, and therefore we can per-
ceive in it the most natural way of the sculptor’s 
pronouncement of his creative prayer. That is 
how the artist himself experiences it. Expressly 
explained in the lapidary Monk and the Work 
is that in a monk’s life work time is just a “con-
tinuation of the prayerful posture, the continu-
ation of the liturgy.” Eloquent Silence informs us 
that the Carthusian Statutes also try to “look at 
work as an extended liturgy and cult, where all 
relations must be imbued with respect” and, 
in keeping with the ora et labora credo, that 
work is “an integral part of the monk’s contem-
plative life”; as homo faber “the monk does not 
search for self-realization through creativity, nor 
for spiritual balance – even though already 
Cassian had recognized this possibility, and 
even need, for the hermit.” Hollenstein’s sculp-
tures became a form of prayer.
The Carthusian, for whom monastic work 
means “service, not self-assertion,” glorifies the 
power of God through his work; in the strength 
with which he vividly bends his metal, we can, 
in the extra-Carthusian context of this exhibi-
tion, recognize the artist’s human creativity, 
which we perceive as art. 
In his art, Father Janez Hollenstein, a former 
Pleterje Charterhouse prior, expresses his 
prayers and visions by means of the tirelessly 
rejuvenated sonorous metal lines onto which 
he has inscribed his heart’s Te Deum.
96
ECHO OF SILENCE
97
98
99
THE DIVINE GARDENER
Inside and outside of the human life
the brother monk plants statues – nature’s fruits.
From monastery walls spring living shoots,
rambling away among the grass grown rife. 
The Crucified One beckons us, like flame,
to God, while weaving arches through it all.
Those walls he quickens from his cosmic space,
ringing with nature under heaven’s vault.
ECHO OF SILENCE
100
101
Pr
ija
te
ljs
ka
 p
ov
ez
an
os
t z
 B
og
om
 p
a s
rc
a n
e u
te
sn
ju
je.
 N
as
pr
ot
no
, š
iri
 ga
 in
 u
sp
os
ab
lja
,
da
 v 
Bo
gu
 p
rij
az
no
 sp
re
jem
a s
kr
bi
 in
 te
go
be
 sv
et
a t
er
 va
žn
e z
ad
ev
e C
er
kv
e. 
(P
K 
6.
6)
ECHO OF SILENCE
102
103
104
105
106
107
KRKA Gallery, Novo mesto
KUD Krka 
Curator: Mitja Pelko 
June, July, August 2017
Stane Kregar Gallery, Ljubljana
St. Stanislav’s Institution 
Curator: Bernarda Podlipnik 
September, 2017
Primož Trubar Cultural Centre, Šentjernej
Šentjernej Municipality 
Curator: Elizabeta Kušljan Gegič 
April, 2018
OPENING PROGRAMMES
Zvone Pelko: Concept  
Milček Komelj: Reviews and introductory poems  
Katarina Šter and insula memoriae vocal ensemble 
Gregorian chant
PREPARATION and SET-UP
Tadej Žugman 
Blaž Jamšek 
Jože Simončič 
Zvone Pelko
ASCENDING  RESURRECTION  ILLUMINATION
ECHO OF SILENCE
e x h i b i t i o n
108
PUBLISHER
Zgovorna Tišina 
Eloquent Silence Cultural Society
DESIGN
Zvone Pelko
TEXTS
Brother Janez Hollenstein 
Milček Komelj 
Zvone Pelko
POEMS
Milček Komelj
COPYEDITOR
Nada Šumi
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Jason Blake 
Nada Marija Grošelj (poems)
FIELD PHOTOGRAPHS
Zvone Pelko
STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHS and  
COMPUTER LAYOUT
Blaž Jamšek
PRINTING and BINDING
Tiskarna Flaksy, Ljubljana 
March, 2018
ECHO OF SILENCE
109
Postavitev in tisk 
so omogočili
...
110
111