Kerstin Vegelahn
Kerstin Vegelahn was born in 1965 in Hamburg, Germany.
After graduating in the Hamburg University of Applied Science she lived for 20 years in Paris, Barcelona, Manila and Hong Kong where she worked in Fashion Design. In 2002 she moved back to Spain and graduated with a Fine Arts degree from LEscola superior dArts Aplicades y Oficis Artistics, La Llotja (Barcelona). In the Summer of 2005, she moved back to Hamburg where she currently works and lives.
Viewers would be astonished by Kerstin Vegelahns Hamburg origins, as her method of painting would not normally be associated with Northern Germany!
This is typified by her use of radiant areas of colours and amorphous structures, blended with coloured spots which elude to a precise arrangement. Coupled with this creation are smaller formations of different colours, which often offer a bold contrast to one another.
Kerstins many years of living and working in Asia, combined with her studies at the academy of Arts in Barcelona as well as her extensive cosmopolitan outlook, lay the foundations for this creative style. Her unique form of artistic expression is inspired by these extensive visual impressions absorbed during travel across diverse continents. She does not make it easy for herself, conversely she is a research minded artist who is at odds with herself in her desire to go beyond the normal limits.
Kerstins unique paints comprise of specialized pigments which are added to pure bees wax. Different colours are then applied layer by layer to the canvas. This creates layered coloured surfaces, which are then carefully exposed by using specially developed tools.
These numerous and elaborate steps take days and sometimes weeks to evolve, which in turn enables the artist to separate herself from her surroundings. This inspires a creative reading of the designs which prompt the viewer to question, whether these could be continents, computer circuit boards, a view into space or a journey into ones own thoughts – ordered, confusing and yet lost at the same time.
The artists method of sculpturing into the material, creates openings of wonderful polychrome colours. These initially look like shiny colour glazed porcelain heads and immediately capture the attention of viewers. This ongoing obsession with the multilayered surface, into which the artist incorporates such exuberant creativity, offers observers an increasingly rare experience. When captured in the finished work of art, there are the emotions of reflection, discovery and the finally pure joy of realisation.
Those who engage with this radiance of colours may embark on a journey into their own fantasy world. Due to her extraordinary working techniques and beautiful colours, this Hamburg-based artist creates a surprisingly inspiring art experience.
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