Walter Oltmann (b. 1960, Johannesburg) has worked across four decades, developing a distinctive practice in woven wire and textile-inspired techniques. Trained at the University of Natal and the University of the Witwatersrand (PhD, 2017), he taught at Wits (1989–2016). Oltmann draws on African and Western craft legacies, researching southern African wire traditions while transforming weaving into sculptural form. His works balance ornamental delicacy with unsettling subjects, engaging vulnerability, beauty, and impermanence. Exhibited widely, his career spans public commissions, museum shows, and representation by Goodman Gallery. Oltmann’s practice interrogates human superiority while cultivating empathy for overlooked species and fragile life.