Biography

Wolfgang Finger is a South Jersey artist whose family emigrated from East Germany when he was a boy, eventually settling in Philadelphia where he largely learned English and developed his early relationship with craft and making.

Originally trained as a stone mason, Finger spent decades building alongside his other pursuits — soccer player, coach, and once a professional roller derby player — before dedicating himself fully to the visual arts. It was a transition driven less by career calculation than by something more fundamental: a lifelong compulsion toward making things with his hands.

His practice now spans three distinct mediums. The paintings explore surface and color, built up in careful layers. The wood carvings — his most labor-intensive work — are deeply naturalistic, shaped from American and exotic hardwoods over months of patient effort. A hand-carved great horned owl, rendered in Louisiana tupelo, was donated to Rowan University in 2023 after months of work; works of this scale and finish regularly command $30,000 or more.

The flamework pieces occupy a third register entirely. Inspired by South Jersey neighbor and world-renowned glass artist Paul Stankard, Finger works with flame and molten glass to produce small, jewel-like objects of intense color. He works closely with fellow glass artist David Graeber, a frequent collaborator whose own practice has deepened his engagement with the medium. His 5 × 5 foot stained glass work depicting macaws and orchids demonstrates the range of scale the medium allows.

His work has been featured in regional newspapers, national magazine articles, and on NBC10 Philadelphia. He has exhibited at the Pitman Gallery and Art Center and in numerous private collections across the region.