In her work, she consciously uses existing, recycled, natural materials.
How important is the connection between art and nature in her work, what inspires her and what she is currently working on you can read here!
What inspires you?
My surroundings, plants, animals, observations of nature in general. Traditional techniques, things from everyday life, like the reflection of trees on the streets, as well as a good exhibition.
In your works you consciously use existing, recycled, natural materials. How important is the connection between art and nature in your work? Can you describe the process in more detail?
At the moment, my artistic work is based on the seasons. With the cyanotype technique I use, it feels a lot like I am working directly with nature. It is an elaborate process, but at the same time it gives a lot of structure. In spring and summer, I am out exploring for plants, dead animals or waste. I have the feeling that I am giving these things and creatures a some kind of appreciation by discovering and processing them. Then I expose the prepared canvases to light. In autumn and winter I process the prints and works and act painterly in the studio.
Transience and time are themes that particularly interest me. They strongly influence in my work and many things are based on them.
At the moment, my artistic work is based on the seasons. With the cyanotype technique I use, it feels a lot like I am working directly with nature.
What is your most important tool?
The brush accompanies me in summer as well as in winter. It is already with me when I expose the canvases to sunlight, sometimes I draw and paint something into it. I make notes in the picture.
What does a day in the studio look like?
It depends on the season. Now I‘m out and about a lot in Vienna and the surrounding area. With some time to spare, I can reflect on the previous process, the fast way of working and the random occurrences in nature. In the studio, I classify them and continue painting and completing the works in peace and quiet.
What are you working on at the moment? And what subject would you like to work on one day?
At the moment I am preparing 20-30 canvases for the upcoming trip. I‘m embroidering them with wool scraps that I got as a gift, and then I‘m going to look for plants and other things on site that might go well with them.
Which work by another artists has touched you the most? Are there any „role models“?
Not specifically, but I am very interested in art and influenced by colleagues on Instagram, exhibitions and Biennials. The exhibition of Helen Frankenthaler is about to open at the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich in Krems, and the Venice Biennale is already underway.
I‘m particularly interested in painting, and I‘m looking forward to seeing works by Katharina Grosse, Anselm Kiefer and Otobong Nkanga, as well as discovering new art.
Susanna Klein with her dog in the studio, Vienna