Under the motto INFINITE CONCEPTS, 16 artists from all over Europe will present two of their works each in the GRACE DENKER GALLERY from March 31, 2023, giving an insight into their work and arousing curiosity for more. The different approaches, ideas and concepts create a special, inspiring experience.
Get to know the exhibitors better in the following article and gain insight into their artistic work and artistic concepts. The exhibitors answer us about what art means to them, what their artistic process looks like, how they came to art, what defines their art, how they start and what materials they use. They also explain the impact their art can have on the world.
The following artists commented in the interview: Denise Kerkeling, Gaby Vidic, Gerd Pfanstiel, Günter Krenz, Helena Einhaus, Horst Weber, Manuela Weger, Marika Fleck, Maike Petersen, Mere Langenbach, Monika Katterwe, Nadine Mehmet, Nicole Guida, Roswitha Heidrich, Sabrina Seck, Torsten Meyer
Register for the vernissage at: https://www.artcraftliving.com
Denise Kerkeling
For me, my painting is like an extension of my arms. Like a tool that belongs to me and wants to be used. I make floral, landscape and nature-based art. I am a
I'm a flower girl and I belong outside. I feel comfortable with my hands and knees in the dirt and that's how I paint - using my whole body.
`So I cry and I pray for you to love me` - a peony that was created from many materials and layers. I used pastels, texture, acrylic and oil and am particularly pleased with the different textures on the canvas.
`finding beauty in negative spaces` is a work of art that took me by the hand and showed me the way during the creation process. Originally I wanted to create a dark abstract scene, but the roses wanted to shine and so I gave in.
I came to painting in a hopeless time and it completely captivated me.
The finest oil paints, painting knives and coarse spatulas, as well as my hands. I've also recently started using digital tools like my iPad and a projector to digitally sketch my motifs in advance, adjust the proportions and match the colors. I then transfer this sketch to the canvas and can use it as a kind of treasure map.
I prefer natural earth tones and pastel shades. I always end up using a similar color palette. That's how I feel most comfortable.
My art stands for self-love, light and self-confidence. They are small retreats for the soul.
Gaby Vidic
As a qualified communications designer, I recently rediscovered my old passion for free painting after previously working in the advertising industry. After the birth of my little daughter last year, while strolling through the galleries in Palma, I decided to start painting again straight away when I got home to Hamburg.
I am most inspired when I travel, but also when I wander through my city of Hamburg, through “foreign” neighborhoods that I don’t see every day; there is something exciting and inspiring to discover on almost every corner.
My pictures are meant to evoke a good mood and to trigger a light, warm and sunny feeling of carefreeness in the viewer, to make them dream of places they long for or to briefly immerse themselves in beautiful memories in everyday life. My color palette therefore mainly includes bright, sunny colors, neon accents, pastel shades and often metallic accents using gold leaf.
The most exciting thing about art for me is the process, the unpredictability: I never know in advance what the finished work will look like. Often the result is something completely different to what I originally imagined the picture to be, and these are the works I like the most.
Gerd Pfanstiel
“It is the duty of a picture to be a feast for the eyes.”
from Renoir by Peter H. Teist, Taschen
The thoughts in what is probably Eugen Delacroix's last diary entry are also my credo. A picture must grab the viewer.
My inspirations are varied. Sometimes it is an impressive landscape detail, its lighting mood or the color tones that nature presents to us in abundance. Sometimes you have to look for them in very small things. Sometimes it is architectural features with their historical roots and all too often I am inspired by people, by personalities. I try to interpret their typical nature or character with my individual feelings for color.
In most cases, the idea of the motif, of a meaningful composition and its color character, comes first. The composition is roughly sketched on the canvas using watercolors in matching tones. This is followed by the primer, which largely corresponds to the intended color scheme, but ultimately you only feel how the colors work next to each other and influence each other when all the surfaces of the canvas are filled. Then I refine it until I feel the concept is consistent.
At the moment, I am particularly inspired by portraits. I try to capture and portray the aura of people in my own individual way. I try to put myself in the person's shoes, to bring out some of their thoughts. With musicians in particular, the color chords should sound like the chords of their music. Colors sound like music to me anyway.
While a portrait is being created, there comes a point where the face takes shape. The figure seems to come to life, to interact with me. This is the moment in the creation phase that particularly touches me.
As we know, Vincent van Gogh was an incredibly productive person. In his ten-year creative period, he painted around 900 pictures. It is very unfortunate and tragic that he ended his own life at just 37 years of age. Up until this event, he devoted himself to painting like a man possessed. With his new style, which the public did not yet accept during his lifetime, he became an important pioneer of modern art. So I felt a great need to honor this great artist with an expressive portrait, a homage to Vincent van Gogh.
Many of Vincent van Gogh's paintings are impressive because of the contrast in color itself. In the portrait shown, I have applied the colors in the purest and brightest form possible. Although, as is well known, Vincent van Gogh was a rather depressed person, I gave him a friendly, forward-looking, but perhaps also thoughtful expression.
Born in Thuringia in 1956, I realized early on that I could no longer let go of the beautiful things in life, of the ability to express myself with color and light.
“I always do what gives me joy and I do it with passion.”
I want to reach people's hearts and souls with my pictures. There is a saying by Albrecht Dürer: "If a man devotes himself to art, he will avoid much of the evil that would otherwise happen if he were inactive."
These are words that require no further explanation.
There is currently so much evil in many corners of the earth that millions of people detest. Art certainly cannot save the world, but it can make a contribution to letting go of evil, in whatever form.
Günter Krenz
What is your artistic concept / your idea of art?
With my art I want to encourage people to question their established viewing habits and ways of thinking. There are always other things behind "reality" that can be discovered.
I create chaos on my canvas using structural paste. I gradually reorganize this chaos into a "different reality." In the end, figures, landscapes, animals, etc. appear in an unusual context, but still in such a way that they can be recognized as a kind of reality.
Why do you make this kind of art? Why does this subject matter interest you?
I would like to quote a sentence from the German romantic Caspar David Friedrich:
"The painter should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees within himself. But if he sees nothing within himself, then he should also refrain from painting what he sees before him."
What does your artwork represent?
My picture is called "Magic Forest"
In the center we see the "Queen of the Forest," who appears in the delicate green. The eyes are "blind." But they are not! They are everywhere in the forest and look at us.
We then see many different things that I like to leave up to the individual interpretation of the viewer in order to give them the opportunity to create their own world. So I provide "signposts".
An example is the figure below left.
A man with a head in his mouth.
Is he a general? Does he eat people? Does he speak in someone else's voice? Does he spit someone out? Has he perhaps bitten off more than he can chew?
People can and should answer all of these questions themselves. This means they are directly involved in the design of the image.
How did you get into art?
I don't want to keep repeating "I've been painting since I was a child." All children paint!
I began to engage in painting as a teenager and took my first practical steps in this direction.
Life demanded other things from me first. Education, career, finding a path in life...
My environment was not culturally influenced in the slightest. Many years had to pass before I found my way back to art.
I have been actively involved again since 2019. I guess I am one of the "late bloomers".
I try to continuously advance my career regardless of my age.
What are the main materials you work with? What role do the materials play in the finished artwork?
My materials are "old fashioned", namely canvas, oil paints, acrylic paints and brushes. I also use structural paste.
The structures I create are very important in my pictures. They show me the way.
What does your color palette look like and what criteria do you use to choose it?My color palette depends on my mood. I sometimes decide one way and sometimes another. Since I never know in advance what kind of picture will emerge, I can't make a prior decision about the colors.
What is the message behind your creative work? What impact do you think your art can have on the world?
My message in my art is:
Don't let your imagination be robbed by predetermined and learned "realities". Look with your own eyes and use your imagination. That makes life more colorful and exciting. Be brave enough to jump over the boundaries. Maybe they don't even exist and you're just jumping into the air senselessly!
Imagination, imagination, imagination...
Helene Einhaus
First of all, my pictures should create an aesthetic overall impression. Ideally, this invites you to linger in front of the picture, motivates you to take a closer look at the various details and then takes the viewer away into mentally budding ideas about what is depicted.
It is often difficult to determine whether what is seen in my pictures is the result of the painter's intention or the viewer's personal interpretation. My concept is therefore to create an aesthetically satisfied but mentally hungry viewer.
My painting style can be classified as organic-abstract. Organic functions as an antagonist to technology, right angles and linear order. Abstract means depicting only the essential features of something concrete, perceptible to the senses.
For each picture I make many sketches, mostly in charcoal on paper. Nevertheless, the finished pictures hardly resemble the sketches, because in the flow of the painting process I follow my inspiration and thus distance myself from the original idea.
For me, painting is like floating through twilight and observing which figures, colors and shapes appear, remain or disappear again. I prefer imprecise, ambiguous and unfinished. Because in my opinion, that's how many people's lives are.
Art has always been part of my life. This was not only because my parents were interested in art, but also because I grew up on the Côte d'Azur. Art and the legacy of great painters, literally from the cave paintings of the Stone Age to the mythical founders of modern art, such as Picasso, are omnipresent there.
Whether art is capable of changing the world may be. Art mainly reflects the culture and time in which it is created and the life experiences and personality of the artist.
The viewer of my pictures can enjoy colors and shapes, take in the harmonies and contrasts, wonder what the things in the picture could be and be happy about what he discovers and recognizes.
If there is a message in my pictures, it is this: Life is beautiful, but unfinished until the last day. And that makes it a little puzzling for everyone.
Horst Weber
I have been interested in art since my childhood.
First, by getting to know painting and drawing techniques. Alongside my career, I eventually became interested in photography. For many years, I collected photographs and studied the various techniques and art forms of photography. Photograms, computer art, chemograms, photographic printing techniques, etc. In theoretical form.
At some point, the desire arose to do something myself again, to take photographs and, in keeping with the times, to use the latest digital technologies.
My idea of art is improvisation and therefore freedom from predetermined structures. Not to make what is known, but to leave room for the chance of artistic activity.
The basis for this is a photograph that is modified. The end product is then another photograph that is then printed. This process is completely digital and the challenge is to make people forget that the end product was once a photograph.
My creative process is comparable to improvisation in music.
Just as a musician uses his instrument to improvise a musical theme, I use the computer and a variety of programs to improvise a given theme from the photograph. This is done in a mixture of intention and chance, using various variations of several computer programs.
Based on the given structure of a photograph, I give the photo a painterly form.
In this process, a variety of variations on this theme are created, which are saved. I use all possible variants of color changes, with a preference for strong colors, but also black and white, but also like a mixture of strong colors with black and white in one image. But also various changes to the shape of the photo.
Everything is allowed, all colors, all mixtures, all shapes.
I also use different art forms such as cubism, impressionism, expressionism, pop art, fauve, street art, abstract etc. If I want, I also mix or overlay different art forms in one picture.
In the example on display, the basis is a photograph of a meadow of flowers, in order to change the colours as seen in Van Gogh's work, but also to give the picture a double structure with a relief in order to imitate a pasty application of paint.
Marika Fleck
For me, art is an expression of a longing for divine creation. By being creative ourselves, we as humans gradually approach this. Only because someone has placed this ability to be creative in us are we able to express our ideas.
I can only depict something on canvas that is already inside me. For example, certain colors that form a picture in my imagination, usually paired with certain shapes and techniques. Other times it is a theme that preoccupies me and wants to take shape after a certain amount of time. Or it is simply the beauty of creation that inspires me so much that I want to depict it. These are phases that alternate and that tell me that there is still a lot to do.
The two pictures on display are watercolors. I like to take my watercolor box with me on vacation. This is how I get all sorts of impressions and memories of vacation trips.
Art was my easiest and favorite subject at school. Everything that has something to do with creativity pleases me and moves me. After trying out a few things, I started painting in 2007 and haven't stopped since.
I prefer to work on canvas with acrylic paints. I find them practical and they offer many possibilities.
I am mostly drawn to clear, bright colors, but every now and then I consciously decide to step out of my comfort zone.
I want to touch people in a positive way, delight their souls and awaken a longing for the spirit that dwells in things.
Maike Petersen
Art creates its own reality, either by taking up what is visible and reinterpreting it or by adding tension to design principles such as color and form in independent compositions. "Art does not reproduce what is visible, but makes it visible," Paul Klee once said, and I can only agree with him.
In keeping with the motto mentioned above, I paint my portraits in such a way that I try to make the essence of the person I am painting visible. I want to depict a deeper layer of the person in question, "the soul under the skin" so to speak. It is not primarily important that a specific person is recognizable, but I try to capture their very own expression.
I learned to love art at school. Since I didn't dare to study free art, I studied art to become a teacher. During my studies I painted, drew, sculpted, made etchings and also tried bronze casting. For my thesis I painted every day from morning to night for months. It was a wonderful experience. I graduated with distinction and then worked as a teacher for 25 years. I have now been painting intensively again for three years.
I paint with both acrylic and watercolor paints, but mostly oil on canvas. I like the feel and slow drying time as well as the intensity of the colors.
The person I want to paint, because he/she interests me for various reasons, dictates the color palette, so to speak. I choose the colors that suit him/her.
Art can and may do many things, but for me personally, art should stand on its own and not be harnessed to the cart of politics or current events. It is a category beyond time and circumstances and deals with the deeply human aspects that connect us all. It is committed to truth and beauty.
I feel connected to the people I paint and feel that when I paint them I am "trying walking in my shoes to understand me". I get closer to the humanity in all of us by painting people.
Manuela Weger
My concept is short and sweet - color and fun - because life is serious enough in itself. My creative process begins in the great outdoors, with a cup of coffee by the pond. There I see life in the garden, the shimmering of colors in the air. Ideas arise in my head, colors flow, and I then transfer these to paper and canvas. In the exhibition we see works on canvas.
My art formed in my synapses. There were explosions of splashes of color. I then depicted this on canvas and noticed that it was like meditation for me.
What does my artwork represent? Life and nature. One is the blooming of cherry blossoms, the buzzing of bees. The other is spring, when everything starts to turn green, the golden rays of the sun that awaken life after hibernation
I was looking for a way to focus my thoughts and emotions. Playing with color helps me do this. Because I work abstractly, the viewer has the opportunity to incorporate my thoughts into theirs and see the work of art through their own eyes.
I mainly work with acrylic, either diluted or in a pasty consistency .
They give a work of art in different design variants many possibilities to fit into an environment. Strong colors can be used as a contrast with more restrained living colors, and a picture with delicate colors fits into a colorful design picture. Every art lover can find exactly what appeals to him.
My color palette consists of bright, colorful colors. I am a happy, positive person and the colors are reflected in my paintings. A basic tone that comes to mind when I look at a blank canvas or a blank sheet of paper is the foundation on which I build.
"Life is beautiful and you only have one," that is my message. It makes grey days lovable, it makes people forget their worries.
Mere Langenbach
I want to characterize and express the ideals, feelings, beliefs and emotions of humanity with my paintings. When I paint, I fall completely silent and concentrate on a blank canvas with my eyes closed. My paintings express the current moment of my feelings and I feel better and think I have a connection with myself and the divine light.
Art came to me through my father. At the age of 8, I watched him with great interest and curiosity. Seeing my father's concentration and composure as he used a ruler, compass and pencil to conjure up lines, dots and numbers in the emptiness of an endless white sheet of paper, which my eyes followed without blinking. Today, it is real how streets are transformed into squares where people and therefore life bustle. By creating my works with paper, canvas and different painting techniques such as different brushes, fingers and the most varied of colors, my satisfaction is reflected in them.
I always choose the colors depending on my current emotions and they are very diverse and colorful.
I want to leave something beautiful and positive behind for humanity through my paintings. A connection between the human individual in harmony with nature and the love that we should have for each other, but which unfortunately is often forgotten in these times.
Monika Katterwe
As an artistic-scientific photographer, I explore a wide range of areas of nature and, on the basis of a wide range of literature studies, visualize my findings in the form of photo painting. Light, with its nature and its special properties, enables me to expand the concept of photography to include scientific, painterly spheres. The basis for this is my intensive study of light itself, color theory, spatial theory and their philosophical levels. My collection on the history of photography also enables me to investigate different photographic techniques. Using the results for my own visualizations of scientific findings, as well as specifying them in the current international context, is a feature of my way of working. Aesthetically researching self-selected content, such as the role of the early mining and processing of bog iron for regional development, as a motor of modern concepts of lifestyle, is essential for my type of manifestation in the form of contemporary art. In its communication on a global level, this is currently growing into a multimedia art form. The work of art is therefore an impetus for the flock of birds to engage with my self-selected content. In this way, shaping the most diverse spaces in their specific dimensions is life-fulfilling and joyful at the same time. Each individual work is a "unic" whose content is revealed to the viewer in multiple ways through the associative interpretation of the colors, shapes, objects, compositional means, etc. in the individual context on the basis of knowledge of the title.
Nadine Mehmet
When I paint, I am fascinated by the harmony of colors, the relationships between colors, the way colors play with each other and the possibilities of creating a picture layer by layer. I paint abstractly expressionistically with bright, dynamic, powerful colors. My focus is on green and red tones. Green, the color of harmony, growth and fertility. Red, the color of fire, energy and love.
My works of art radiate power and energy.
But first and foremost, they are definitely good-mood pictures; the bright, sometimes neon colors convey joy and positivity.
I start with an idea in my head, but the result is always a surprise. Nature is my greatest inspiration. I prefer to work with acrylic paints, inks, sprays, markers, fillers, which I apply with a brush, spatula or, quite unorthodoxly, with my hands, and I set accents with oil pastels, colored pencils and charcoal, all on canvas. My goal is to positively influence the viewer's emotions through my colorful art, to immerse them in a colorful world in which they can recharge their batteries.
Nicole Guida
My art is intended to give an impetus to free oneself from given structures in order to experience and live new things!"
Through bright and harmonious colors and lively structures in my pictures, I motivate the viewer to break away from social norms and structures, to accept changes as challenges and to enjoy the diversity that life offers us.
For me, a blank canvas means letting myself be guided by my desire, passion and imagination. A white canvas always means starting from scratch, without knowing what I am letting myself in for and what will come of it.
Art makes me free. It allows me to express my inner self with passion.
Let it flow, that is the change of time, time for change, time to create something new, to allow something new. It is beauty, beauty that never fades.
At the age of 12, I learned to play the guitar and performed on numerous stages. In 2004, I traveled to Chicago and produced my first CD with well-known musicians from the scene. After that, I continued to write my own songs that reflected real life, sang in rock bands, various duos, etc. At some point, I decided to end my career as a musician and discovered my passion for painting. This is where I arrived and found what I had been looking for for a long time.
I mainly work with acrylic paints, which I pour onto the canvas and apply with a spatula. I work with sand, fabrics, wood. This allows me to create lively structures in my paintings. It creates a certain depth. In my color palette, it is important to me to use bright and harmonious colors. I start to create a series for which I have certain color ideas.
For example, red stands for passion and love.
A strong blue, for example, which stands for career and profession, makes it easier to concentrate in the study. This is how the blue secret series came about.
I want to stimulate the imagination of each and every one of us. To open up and be free, to never stop dreaming, to be open to new things, to be creative and to smile more often.
Roswitha Heidrich
Sometimes I am inspired by colors that I come across in everyday life and create a color concept. Other days I just start and work intuitively. I love abstract color compositions. I almost always use at least 5 or 6 colors, often more.
Abstract works stimulate my own imagination and that of the viewer. I am always excited by what other people see in my work.
The different layers in Deep in my Diary represent the complexity of our inner being. Every person is complex and it is practically impossible to penetrate to the deepest layers.
I have always been interested in art. But there was a time when I was lacking creativity in my life. And I started painting. I work with acrylic paints and occasionally with structural paste or crackle varnish. My color palette is colorful with a few favorite colors.
What is the message behind your creative work? What impact do you think your art can have on the world?
Spread happiness
Sabrina Seck
What is your artistic concept / your idea of art?
I have no idea what art is. Too many things can be art or not. However, I have an idea of my own art. There isn't really a concept either, because for me art is also influenced by emotions. There is no concept for emotions.
How do you start your creative process, how do you encounter a blank canvas/paper etc.?
My process always starts in my head. Sometimes I already have the title before I even start painting. Sometimes I have the motif in my head, but then finish it on my tablet, for example. However, I never have the problem of not knowing what to paint. I am more worried that I won't live long enough to paint everything that is floating around in my head.
Why do you make this kind of art? Why does this subject matter interest you?
I have been searching for my style for over 20 years. I always knew what I wanted to paint, but not how, as a block in my head prevented me from simply daring to do it. For example, simply painting fur without depicting every single hair. You can depict so many things with color without using clear lines. But my head had to allow that first. The subject of "PopArt" appeals to me for exactly this reason. There is hardly any other style than this one that comes with so much color. Color is simply fun.
What does your artwork represent?
An impressive, colorful work that brings joy with its different motifs.
How did you get into art?
Probably like every artist, you have enjoyed painting since you were a child and have developed and consolidated your talent over the years.
What are the main materials you work with? What role do the materials play in the finished artwork?
My main materials are acrylic paints, canvas (wood or canvas), markers and spray paints. Depending on the motif, I also use other materials such as chalk, fabrics, resin, stencils, etc. They obviously play a big role, as these materials make the work what it is in the end.
What does your color palette look like and what criteria do you use to select it?
My color palette is extensive. I choose completely intuitively. The main thing is that it is colorful.
What is the message behind your creative work? What impact do you think your art can have on the world?
My message is clear. My works are able to make the grey everyday life at home disappear a little and fill the room with joy. Joy that arises when you look at them or just because of their color. Some works tell little stories, motivate or make you think. Some are just fun and spread good cheer. Moods that make the world a little better for everyone..:-)
Thorsten Meyer
Art is expression and exchange. With my art I want to communicate with the world and take the viewer on a journey. With my art I want to trigger positivity and feelings of happiness.
When I encounter a blank canvas/sheet of paper, I first engage in an intuitive process.
In my floral and abstract works I want to depict the diversity and colorful beauty of the world/nature. It is also important to me that I trigger a positive feeling with my art. Our world is full and overstimulated. I recommend a good dose of positive colors to counteract this. :)
Among the works on display we see, among other things, a bouquet of flowers that stands out from the colorful background, the positive foundation, in front of the darkness (above) and brings light into the darkness.
In my second work I dealt with the topic of corals and the diversity of the underwater world. It was important to me to let the color palette explode.
I have always been creative. I attended a technical college for design, but then swapped it for training as a musical actor. I was able to live out my creativity on stage. I also trained in the educational field. My focus there is also on aesthetic education. Since 2020, I have allowed myself to give visual art more space in my life.
I work with acrylic paints, spray cans and acrylic ink. I use a variety of methods to apply the paint. I find it exciting to try out new things every now and then
Colorful, colorful and colorful again. :)
I like the variety of colors. I like to use bright colors like turquoise, neon pink, neon yellow, etc. These colors then contrast with dark colors like black or indigo.
My art can make the world more positive. It can encourage people to be creative themselves. With my art I can support important projects in life and do good.
First and foremost, my art can make the world more colorful. I want to "touch" people with my art and I want to engage in dialogue.
Duration of the exhibition: 31.03.2023 to 25.05.2023
Location: GRACE DENKER GALLERY, Hammerbrookstraße 93, 20097 Hamburg.
Opening: March 31, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
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