My name is Angelika and before I became a full-time artist, I worked as a graphic designer for many years, and for the last 15 years or so I have been a full-time freelance artist. So art has absolute priority for me.
Studio
Since about 10 years I have my studio in the ART FACTORY, an artists’ house in Cologne. It is an old bread factory where 25 artists work. In my large studio with very high ceilings there is a lot of space for my painting. My studio tour also gives a good overview of my work and my creative environment. Watch it here!
New artworks
Currently I paint abstract works with dynamic brush gesture, but also abstract figurative and abstract landscapes. My approach is process-oriented and experimental. At the beginning of the painting process, I usually only need a first colour mood that I have perceived somewhere or a special material that enables me to start painting. Often I use special tools (I don’t only work with brushes) or everyday objects that are transformed into painting tools. The picture is built up in layers, and layer by layer I make the next decisions. Rarely do I have a concrete idea for a painting. But even then I manage without a sketch or concept, but develop the idea further during the elaboration. I want to convey “good vibes” in my pictures, I want the viewers to feel lightness, joie de vivre and positivity when they look at my pictures. This also has an effect on the room in which the pictures hang.
In doing so, I see myself as being somewhere between abstraction and object, between painting and drawing, between head and gut. Between the individual phases of free working, in which I work rather intuitively and dynamically, there are always analytical moments in which I take a look and the next decision begins to mature. Sometimes this happens quickly and immediately and sometimes it can take days or weeks until it is clear how to proceed. Compositional criteria play a role in this, even if it is only to deliberately break these criteria. I work in layers, often producing chaos quite impulsively at first, and then gradually ordering and calming the picture.
Inspirations
It usually begins with a colour mood. The yellow of a rape field. The diverse green tones of nature in spring. Special light conditions. But also interesting shapes: The silhouette of a mountain range in the Alps. A particularly beautiful leaf shape. Sometimes also the level of content: old family photos. Or the tool with which I apply the paint. I like to use materials that have a life of their own. With which I can enter into dialogue. When I manage to take myself back, paint the material and let the material do its thing, the most beautiful pictures emerge with ease.
Don’t let this up-and-coming artist slip under your radar!
Are you an emerging artist and you would like to spread your art? Apply to balthasart! We specialize in up-and-coming talents and we can help you start off the journey on the right foot!
