Similar to Cubist paintings, it is surfaces that determine the exterior form of Höfinger’s sculptures, which are suggestive of an abrupt pause in movement. Höfinger sees this reduction of his work to smooth surfaces as a form of concentration on what is essential. At the same time, the way light reflects off the surface of his sculptures, continually changing their appearance, references the adaptability of nature. In 1966–67, he began to create figures without bases or plinths in the style of statuary, which allowed them to be viewed from many different angles.

Höfinger also struck out on his own by using new materials: in 1970–71 he made his first chrome, nickel and steel figures, which now grace public spaces across Austria (e.g. “Pflugfeld” (“Plough Field”) at Inzersdorf wholesale market, “Handel & Verkehr” (“Trade & Transport”) at the Danube Bridge in Krems, “Sturz” (“Fall”) at the General Accident Insurance building in Vienna’s 20th district, and many more). These “new” materials emphasized the possibilities inherent in multi-perspectivity. Oskar Höfinger has received numerous public commissions and also created works of art for religious institutions. His oeuvre includes altar tables as well as glass windows and woodwork, while his sculpture “Heiligen Restituta” was gifted to the Pope in 1998.

“Der Sieger” (“The Victor”), completed in 1969, is one of Höfinger’s most significant works. Constructed from the middle outwards, it can be positioned and viewed from any angle. Depending on how it is displayed, it could be a cheering figure, footballer, high jumper, javelin thrower, and so on. It stood to reason, then, that a three-metre-high copy should be made to celebrate the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, and displayed in Admont (Styria). The sculpture’s human energy seems to radiate outwards, a figure that consumes the space around it and conveys a great sense of confidence and inner balance.