26 november 2021, Manuela Klerkx
Karen Birnholz - A life in cement
I want my works to be touched by the eyes – to evoke sensation.
MK Did you always want to be an artist?
KB I wanted to be an artist since I was four years old. I had an older sister who was very artistic and I always followed and copied her. As I got older, in order to make sure I could support myself, I also studied graphic design and started my career as an art director. But I always knew that one day I would focus on my own art. From the moment I dreamed of becoming a professional artist, I knew I would have to work hard to make it happen.
Karen Birnholz, Rhapsody, 1996, Galerie Franzis Engels.
MK You studied in New York and Miami. Can you tell a bit about that?
KB I did my undergraduate studies in Miami, and my Master's at New York University. It was at NYU that I was fortunate to have such extraordinary teachers as Michael St. John, Gerry Snyder and Jessica Stockholder. I started as a figurative painter, but they encouraged me to not limit myself to traditional forms of drawing and painting, but to challenge myself and do something with my strong sense of color. It was at the NYU study program in Venice, after seeing a store in Campo san Barnaba filled with jars of pure color, that I knew color was my calling. I initially used plaster to prime my canvas, and after the realization that the strokes would be great in color, I started to focus more on just the color. This led to thicker and thicker canvases which would fall off the wall, and finally to just the colored plaster on its own. Eventually, due to the fragility of my medium, I started to mix the pigments in cement.
MK Why cement? It’s not really an obvious choice.
KBI didn't choose cement, cement chose me. I can’t remember how it started, but at some point, there was a bag of cement standing in my studio. And since at that time I was working with new painting techniques without using a brush, I started working with it. It’s not a traditional art material like marble or bronze, but rather an everyday useful material. I love the challenges of cement. It’s characteristics, rough yet fragile, especially in combination with the vibrancy of color.
MK You no longer make paintings to hang on the wall, but wall sculptures and stand-alone sculptures. How did that come about?
KB Since I started mixing color pigment with plaster that I then applied to canvas, I discovered that the canvas was not needed – that the medium became the carrier. I was also influenced by my love of African art where an object such as a shield is painted on two sides. This led to the making of my two-sided paintings which are placed on a stand.
Karen Birnholz, Question of balance, 1998, Galerie Franzis Engels.
MK Do you consider yourself a painter or sculptor?
KB I consider myself a painter. I’m interested in the process of painting. But I also like to push the boundaries of painting and wondered why something hanging on the wall is experienced as a painting – even if it is so thick that it protrudes from the wall – and that something standing in the room is a sculpture by definition. Painting can also be an independent medium by obliterating the canvas as the carrier for the paint and letting the paint itself be the carrier. I also realized that I need to focus on balance and weight due to my medium cement. Together with the approach of painting I think a link between sculpture and painting is created – and a more challenging and complex process to work with.
MK The way you describe your work as 3D objects makes it a sculpture, doesn't it?
KB The result is sculptural, but as mentioned, the process is about the principles of painting; form, movement, composition and color.
MK It seems to me that it is physically demanding to work with cement.
KB It is a very physical process. It forces me to focus because I need to respond quickly to the pigmented cement before it’s dry. Once it is created, I can't change it. The technique determines my way of working and ultimately also the visualization of my ideas in a very concentrated manner.
MK Color is an important part of your work. Do you know where this interest originated?
KB Ever since I was young, the first thing that captures my attention was color. I love the sensuality of pure color. Color evoke feelings.
MK What does art mean to you?
KB I believe my work with color and the fragility of my medium, cement, is a reflection of my soul. I want the viewer to sense color. (The best compliment I ever got was ‘I want to eat it’.) Being in touch with who I am makes me what to continue to explore and evolve.
Karen Birnholz, Bud, 2021, Galerie Franzis Engels.
MK The titles of your work are sometimes puzzling or poetic and can be amusing or ambiguous. A few examples: If this ain’t love, To be a tree, Turn me over and do it again, All wrapped up, Dancing greens, Sandwiched in pink and Africa on my mind. Why is that?
KB I think it’s a result of my work in the advertising world. I'm very aware of words and their meaning. Whether I get them from songs or they are part of a saying I happen to hear, or they sometimes just pop in my head from looking at the piece as it’s being created – titles are a way for the artworks to speak to me.
MK What do you want to convey to your audience?
KB I want my works to evoke a sensation like smell or taste does. To give people the feelings that color can evoke. If I can achieve that with my art, my mission will be accomplished.
See the online exhibition 'A life in cement'
