New Collections
Christel Dillbohner
I am pleased to present, with earth in mind, featuring recent paintings by Berkeley based artist, Christel Dillbohner. This exhibition marks the ninth installment of our New Collections series which showcases work by contemporary artists online.
In conjunction with Casey & Associates Art Advisors, with earth in mind, features eight paintings by Dillbohner and can also be viewed in person at 425 Market Street in San Francisco through May, 2016.
Christel Dillbohner is a researcher and explorer of the visual world. States of being are the subject of her luscious painterly explorations that respond to shifting landscapes and environments. She has presented her paintings, site-specific installations, and works on paper in many galleries and museums in the USA, Germany and Japan. Born in 1956 in Cologne, Germany, she studied painting with Renate Lewandoski and Karl Marx at the Kölner Werkschule (FHS Kunst + Design). Since 1996, her home has been in Berkeley, CA.
with earth in mind
For me, art has always been visual research and dissemination: investigating events and concepts through uncommon viewpoints and tools, then transforming ideas and material into “visual catalysts”. This way of working offers me a perpetual challenge, the basis for my creative process and the means for a nonverbal communication with others. Over the years, I’ve expanded my material language: worked with clay and sculpted paper, spent days in the darkroom, explored the use of wax, added oils and pigment to my palette, and collected a multitude of natural materials and cultural debris for my assemblages. The outcomes of my visual studies, which often involve travel, are manifested in my paintings, collages, assemblages and sculptures. I have presented my many sided oeuvre in intimate or large-scale site- specific installations, often accompanied by talks and workshops.
Being observant of the natural world is an integral part of my life as an artist.
While out in the field, out in the world, I mentally record what I sense and observe. I pay attention to shifts and changes in my surroundings. The raw, sheer force of the earth, the manipulated landscapes and urban settings are all part of my considerations.
During the painting process in the studio I then draw from a vast mental library of visual impressions. I notice the tug of the unfathomable when images arise. I intuitively search for views into and vistas of infinite expanses of the interiors of nature, and thus explore the hinterland of the visible and invisible. By plumbing the deep seas of the unconscious I come to find and hold these images on the painting’s surface.
That way I am exploring relationships between nature and abstraction, matter and light, to create landscapes of the imagination that may point towards new prospects.
Christel Dillbohner
December 2015
Please feel free to e-mail me at h@hmxaa.com with any questions, or if you would like more information about the artist. I hope you enjoyed the Collection!