Anne-Clara Stahl
Artwork’s Title: Inter
Materials Used: Oil on board, steel
Studio Based: Vienna
Can you tell us about the process of making your work?
I think working means to formulate thoughts in ways, other than communicating them directly to the person opposite. I am a painter and drawer and have dedicated myself to the surface. Nevertheless, I perceive working as a painter as a very physical one. The flat body is an object that asks to be treated. In some of my works this physicalness is shown in frames that bring painting into the space. In a series titled “Gebilde” I have followed this kind of spatial approach.Currently I am working on further objects that combine sculpture and painting in order to create a spatial experience of painting.
How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)?
Eager, Linked, Patient.
Would you use another three different words to describe the ‘Inter’ painting?
Constellation, Reaction, Tension.
How did you come up with this painting idea? Is there any story behind this painting?
In my latest works, a lot develops from the materiality of the surface on which I work. I use a knife to carve the lines into the wood, on which I later paint. There is something very physical about this way of working. It is exhausting to hold the knife correctly and yet so archaic not to add the lines but to take them out of the material in order to make them visible.
For me, drawing and painting have a lot to do with language. Painting is language. When I create a picture there is no verbal exchange, there can be hours of silence but nevertheless I am in a vibrant exchange as the picture revels itself. The narrative is part of every work, but I would not say that the narrative is its destination.
My relationship to each individual work changes in its existence during the working process. It is like a journey, sometimes it can even be just a side trip. You can never retell the journey of how the painting came into existence. In retelling the process you silence the personal voice of the work. It is simply there and communicates with its presence in space.
Is there any particular message that you wish your viewers can take from this painting?
I write a short text to each of my works. The text is not meant to be a component of the work and still stays part of the work. The text is the gesture.
Extensions of arm lengths lead to a reach. Solid formations are central figures. In the space between closeness a gap of distance can arise. If the amount of contact is limited to the surface, a gap becomes a cleft. Fissured surfaces can be involved again by concessions. We are talking about tolerance. Its painting requires precision.
What would be the best way to exhibit your work?
I am dreaming of a building that is inhabited by my work. I am dreaming of an architecture that adapts to my paintings. I think of spaces that interact with the work. In my thoughts these spaces already exist. Maybe I will build a model of this house one day and name it. In any case, I think that as soon as you start painting, you are dealing with space. I add this analysis of space to my work I want to deal with.
How do you know when this painting was finished?
As already mentioned, there are different techniques in the way I work and therefore different stages I go through. As there is a first step through carving, the drawing is defined at a certain point. After that the tool gets changed. I always look forward to the part that follows. To answer your question exactly, there is not only the one moment when the painting is finished, but my hands speak a precise language to me, which I understand quite well if they are ready to rest. Sometimes this ends in a pause from a painting that I continue to work on later. Other times it is the sign for an end.
What about the place where you work? What’s your studio space look like?
The space I work in is very important to me. Since I would like to have the possibility to work at any time, a combination of living and working is a desire in the long run. At the moment I change, in warm times in a studio space for temporary use – without heating, in colder ones at home. But no matter where, it is important to spend time in the studio spaces, to acquire them. Only then they become a place of work. You have to put your feet in them, move around. You have to be able to hang up work, be able to take distance from the work. I love my workspace and I like treating it like my extended soul.I have a great interest in inventing spaces and I have great pleasure in activating them through work. It is always nice to experience which working methods lead to which spaces. I find inspiration in everything that surrounds me, but especially in a close observation of details and movement.My studio is the place where every thought I collect is considered and negotiated again.
Which exhibition did you visit last?
I was curious and visited “Imagine Tomorrow” – Hundertwasser and Schiele, Leopold Museum Vienna.
Which are your plans for the near future?
Definitely keep working. I’ve never felt so energetic in my life. I am enjoying the feeling of this energy growing. My plans are not very concrete at the moment, also because of 2020…but one thing is certain. I will continue and I will learn so much, I can feel it.
Additional Paintings
© All images are courtesy of the artist