animal forms

Group exhibition Municipal Gallery Berlin, 3 days of art, 2017

statements

At the center of Bernadette Schweihoff's artistic work - especially her "Animalforms", on which she has been concentrating since a year-long stay in New York - is an elaborate, seemingly experimental, detailed production process that uses a variety of media. The most important medium in the artist's creative process is the paper from old New York newspapers and magazines, which is processed using a special process. Not only is the paper itself the carrier of the animal forms that later emerge on it, but it is the printed words, letters and illustrations that later carry the animal painted with ink and gesso and created with one brushstroke, which is reminiscent of cubist games of form and naive art. It is these words, letters and illustrations that practically bring the animal to life. Behind the letters there are stories from an unvarnished reality that the individual cannot escape. This reality is post-processed and the artist paints her "animal forms" on it. It's the wolf in sheep's clothing. It is precisely this kind of profound, ambiguous play that characterizes the artist's work.

The artistic work of Bernadette Schweihoff - specially her "Animalforms" she has been concentrating on since a one-year stay in New York - focuses on a production process that is elaborate, seemingly experimental, with a keenness for detail and that uses a multitude of media. The most important medium included in the creative process of the artist is the paper of old New York newspapers and magazines, prepared using a special process. Here, not only paper itself is the carrier of the animal forms that are created on it at a later stage; Rather, it is the printed words, letters and illustrations that later carry the animal painted using India ink and gesso and made with one stroke of the brush, resembling Cubist plays of shapes and naïve art. It is those words, letters and illustrations that practically bring the animal to life. Behind the letters, there are stories of an unadorned reality the individual cannot escape. This reality is reworked, and the artist paints on it her “Animalforms.” It's the wolf in sheep's clothing. It is exactly this type of profound, ambiguous play that is characteristic of the work of the artist.