Vita english

Vita

Born in Bremen in 1960
lives and works in Bremen

Newspapers, strangers’ photo albums, magazines, my own photos, TV, internet. Chance finds … Perception, reflection, my perspectives and uncertainties, my possibilities and limitations, my prospects—my resources.

Slips of paper 9.3 x 9.3 cm, beer-mat size. A woman with dementia wrote a note every night before going to bed, telling herself which day was next—When I wake up it will be Sunday. She left the note on her bedside table so that when she woke in the morning and read it, she would have a point of reference to guide her into the day.

An emptied picture frame, signs of wear and tear, lost memory, lost history, projection screen.

The present—my present—as a project.

Blank canvas, blank paper, empty display case, empty wall, empty room. What gets me excited? What catches my eye? Where is the point of intersection between the trivial and the essential?

Nothing is so mundane that it isn’t worth reflecting on or depicting. Anything is potential subject matter … My moods, my subject matter, my moods, my techniques.

The thought of restricting myself—or, worse still, being restricted—in my choice of subject matter or means of expression has always been abhorrent to me.

A basic idea, a thought, a motif, composition, form, colour, distance, grand gestures, endless fiddling around, almost there except for … react, let it tick over, fresh impetus, repaint, vestiges of the original motif, light, dark, sitting, a lot of sitting, searching, making, letting it tick over, the first idea for a picture sunk, the second too, everything gone and yet still there … Layer upon layer upon layer, the basic idea is alive … Uncovering strata, like memories.