From Swinging A Hammer To Softer Forms

After presenting herself by herself at last years lunchtalk at the Fortress, why not do it differently this year? Christina Zurfluh might have thought and invited Sibylle Omlin, an art expert, curator and lecturer that first encountered her work in the late 90ies to have a conversation about her works and artistic development.

Starting from the early works that consist of up to 50 and more layers of acrylic paint, all of them meticulously documented in what she calls her diaries, soon to be published as an artist book, that in turn are worked on with sand paper and even a hammer to once again reveal the layers underneath, to her more recent works that feature plastic planes stretched out in space, wrinkled in areas so the paint that is applied with a stick can run and form patterns.

These works she calls Strombilder, a wordplay that can be best translated as current images, leaving it up to the viewer if it's that of a stream or electricity. The artist started working in this direction because she noticed how acrylic paint would dry in lines and shapes on the plastic foil she uses to cover the walls of her studio out of the pure necessity of needing a pristine environment to begin new works. "Acrylic paint is a great material, there are so many ways to use it. You can make things like my older works that have an almost sculptural character, also whole curtains of nothing but paint on foil as it dries and sticks together well, but you can also cast it into shapes and use it like rubber." she explains her fondness for a material that had its high times in the 80ies but is now seldom seen in use by contemporary artists.

Before ending the talk, all delivered in absolutely adorable swiss german, the two women briefly touch upon her most recent works, Sybille telling how one day she came into Christina's studio and noticed a painting that looked like it actually had some elements drawn by hand on it, but hesitated to ask as in all the time she has known the artist the paintbrush was a tool she stayed away from as far as possible. "I never forbade myself the usage of anything," says Christina here, "but I like exploring different paths and seeing what I can do with one technique."

I  will be looking forward to seeing the troves she without doubt will find as she continues her artistic journey. [mp]