Emily Pütter

Emily Pütter, Ocean, 2013-2015, Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas, 215 x 255 cm

“The process of this painting seemed to be eternal. It went parallel to the thinking of the festival and it´s theme: Displaced2015, and became bigger and bigger in my head. The river transformed slowly in water, more water, no end visible. I thought, “that’s it”: an unfinished battle with a painting (watch the video). Then in my new and smaller studio I pinned it to the wall and intervened but without any result. Nearly seven long months and more and more layers. Then suddenly I did something without any hope of making it better, and there it was: The ocean, big, threatening and full of secrets.

Lost umbilical cords, loose ends dangling, erasures, unsoiled roots, empty rooms, severed lines, interrupted cycles, efforts that dissolve into smoke and fog. Confusion, threats from above and below, looking, movement …”

Having studied in Mexico, Barcelona, and Berlin, Emily has worked as a freelance artist for over 30 years, has taught art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Freiburg and the Galileo Galilei in Madrid, and taught literature at the Goethe Institute in Madrid. Returning to Berlin in 2006, she’s been organising art events. Living in the east of Germany, where a large part of her family originates, is an exciting new territory for discovery. What she has learnt about internationalism, openness, alienation and “transformation”, she would like to implement locally and contribute to the enrichment and to understanding in the world today.

www.emilypuetter.com