I remember how I once, at fifteen years old, stood by the schoolyard wearing a bright yellow woollen coat. The lining of the coat glowed maroon. I remember my feelings of shame and pride towards this exclamation mark I wore – the spontaneously selected and then bitterly regretted choice of fabric. All that design and sowing work, neatly-made seams, personal details and my determination to finish the coat. The memory summarises part of what takes place in an artistic thought and problem solving process.
My artistic practice includes working both with big unities and intricate details. Colourful aquarelles are typical for my works. My latest works have been individual pieces experimenting with materials in a kind of play. I have used freeform crochet and ready-made objects and painted with make-up products. My artwork often refers to the fleeting as well as timeless nature of life.
As an art educator, I focus on teaching at the university, but I also conduct research. At the moment my research work concentrates on children’s drawings, watercolour paintings and paper clipping collages from the years 1946 and 1947. The images reveal cultural-historical, societal and social knowledge of the world that the children of that time lived in, and of the ethos of the era. The pictures contain numerous references to the imagery that has influenced the children. These 70 year-old pictures from the time of reconstruction can, for their part, help us make observations of the visual culture of our own time.