Above: Portrait of Esther Stocker by Meinrad Hofer
Above: Galerie Im Taxispalais, Innsbruck
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Interview
Vienna-born artist Esther Stocker’s visually captivating work comments on our assumptions of the world around us. Where at first glance we think we see a rendering of solid reality, a second look reveals kinks in the fabric of that reality. It’s these disturbances that then force us to re-evaluate our surroundings, and make us realise that imperfection – the element of chaos – is part of the natural order of things.
Much of her work is dominated by grids, and therefore, reminiscent of computer-rendering before any surface texturing has taken place. In her paintings, installations and architectural enhancements, the imagination is forced to awaken, and by doing so, the viewer then gains a clearer understanding of what is - or isn't - there.
Esther, I noticed that while doing my research, I found out that you were a big comic-book fan...
Yes, comics are a great inspiration to me!
Which ones inspired you? Who are your heroes?
Charles Schulz ( Peanuts ) is a hero....I also love "La Linea" by Osvaldo Cavandoli, the drawings of Art Spiegelman ( Maus ), Marjane Satrapi ( Persepolis ), Lewis Trondheim ( Kaput and Zösky ) and Claire Bretécher...
When I first saw your work, that's how I reacted to it: It's like a comic page, minus the figures and all other recognisable forms. As if it has been compressed, collapsed, or blown up with dynamite..! Is that a good analogy, or am I totally wrong?
Untitled, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 140 x 160 cm. Photo: Michael Goldgruber
YES very good!!!! I think comics are good teachers for abstract artists...
I have a feeling that you must read science fiction too, because the way you subvert reality reminds me of Philip K. Dick. Have you ever read him?
Yes I like him, and Asimov and Ellison... I am also inspired by the writings of Gottlob Frege, Hélène Cixous, Donald Davidson and Bela Julesz.
Even if we don´t know it, we do have expectations of forms, we expect them to behave in a predictable manner. Personally, I am fascinated by the way in which we recognise these expectations only when they are not fulfilled.
The field of Geometry needs intellectual fiction. There is solid truth in geometry, but I want to find things I wasn´t looking for.
Do you approach the paintings differently to, say, the installations, or the exterior works?
No! My approach is the same - in the end it is all painting to me. And painting for me is a space that I can enter...
Talking of spaces, when you are working, what is the environment like? What music do you listen to, while you create?
These days: Electric Guest, EST, Trans Am, Jimmy Summerville...
Thinking about the large scale of some of your work, do you use Photoshop to plan an installation, or do you prefer to work it out 'on the spot'?
I make drawings and small sketches for paintings - I use Photoshop for visualisations with architecture, or I make cardboard models.
When exactly did the 'eureka moment' happen, regarding your black & white style? At college, or afterwards?
I always loved painting, but I never "thought" in colour. It was an act of freeing myself when I stopped using colour in college.
Continued further down page...
Above: Oredaria Arti Contemporanee, Roma
Above: Hunt Kastner Artworks, Prague
Untitled, 2003, acrylic on cotton, 140 x 160 cm, Photo: W. Woessner
Untitled, 2004, acrylic on cotton, 140 x 160 cm, Photo: W. Woessner
Untitled, 2006, acrylic on cotton, 140 x 160 cm, Photo: Michael Goldgruber
Untitled, 2006, acrylic on cotton, 140 x 160 cm, Photo: Michael Goldgruber
Untitled, 2010, acrylic on cotton, 200 x 300 cm, Photo: M. Polak
Untitled, 2010, acrylic on cotton, 200 x 300 cm, Photo: M.
Polak
Above: Galerie Krobath Wimmer, Vienna
Above: Galleria Contemporaneo, Mestre
Above: Silo Barth, Brixen/Bressanone
Above: AR/GE Kunst Galerie Museum Bozen
Above: Museum 52, London
Above: Lift off 2008, Eindhoven
Above: Baarer Straße, Zug
Above: CELLA, Roma
Above: House of Art, Budweis
Above: Galleria Studio 44, Genova 1
Above: Outdoor Gallery, Gdansk
Above: Galeria Alberta Pane, Paris
Esther, this is going to be MONOBLOG’s first Christmas Special. What do you have planned for the holidays?
I used to be very suspicious of Christmas because as a child I realised this was the time when families fight ...nowadays usually around Christmas time I turn into a do-it-yourselfer, and repair the whole house - meaning I build shelves or drill the walls or...this usually lasts until my neighbours scream at me, and then it is once again:
Happy Christmas everyone!
Above: Instituto Italiano di Cultura, Wien
http://www.estherstocker.net/
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Esther Stocker - Recent exhibitions
Solo shows:
Portrait of Disorder at Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch, Germany
21 October - 14 April 2013
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Form Follows Vision at Galerie Alberta Pane,
Paris
25 October - 8 December
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Group shows:
Chance As Strategy, Vasarely Museum Budapest
19 October 2012 - 6 January 2013
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Subjective Involvement In Physical Spatial Entities, Oredaria Arti
Contemporanee, Roma
