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FUTURE ART MAGAZINE
Human uniqueness: an interview with Silke von Clarmann
The human being. The artist Silke von Clarmann deals with this theme in a special form of portraiture. This results in large-format, colorful faces that illustrate the importance of tolerance and peace.
How did the sale of your first work of art come about?
I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. Art always played a big role there, but only collecting art and not creating it. “Talent or no talent, you can’t make a living from art!” was my childhood belief. But then I was lucky enough to meet the well-known Chiemsee painter Paul Paulus. He encouraged me to take unconventional paths. So at the age of 13, against my parents’ wishes, I took part in an art exhibition at a well-known traditional Munich company. In my early adolescent phase at the time, I was determined to prove to my parents that you – that is, I – could also sell art. And lo and behold, I sold my first watercolor painting there. Not just one, by the way, but three. My parents were amazed – and so was I!
What do the collectors of your works value most about your art?
As a rule, the collectors of my artworks are predominantly women. Women in particular feel addressed by my topics such as slowing down, mindfulness and maintaining the outer façade. I think they recognize themselves in my pictures and the corresponding statements. They also really appreciate the dynamic colors in my pictures, they can draw energy from them.
What are themes of particular importance that you repeatedly address in your art?
Good question. Listening is extremely important to me. Here I don’t just mean listening to the person I’m talking to, but also listening to myself. Especially in these fast-moving times, we are finding it increasingly difficult to stand by ourselves and stay true to ourselves. We are all different and that is a good thing. That’s why I bring the diversity of people to the canvas.
Can you tell us a little more about the “Facades” series?
Everyone knows the situation: you sit in a café and watch the people passing by: “Oh, how beautiful and self-confident they all are”. But if we take the time to get to know the individual people better, we realize how often we have fallen for this facade. I keep asking myself why we think we have to somehow protect ourselves with a façade. With my portraits, I look behind the façade and discover the true essence of the person opposite.
At what point in your life did you begin to identify yourself as an artist?
There is indeed a funny story about this. Due to his profession, my husband was already established and well known in the local district. Everywhere I went and mentioned my name, the first reaction was: “Ah, are you the Clarmann’s wife?” Sometime in 2018, I had a doctor’s appointment and handed in my insurance card at reception. The nice lady took it, read the name and thought about it. I wanted to beat her to it and say: “Yes, I’m the woman from …” . The woman then said: “Ah, you’re the artist who has the great exhibition in the Kulturhof right now?”
Yes, from that point on I felt like an artist with heart and soul. Incidentally, that was also when I moved into my new, larger studio
How do your ideas come about and how do you develop them?
I often get my inspiration from my family. The children in particular often ask questions about current events, both global and personal. As a mom, I am challenged to find explanations for the many conflicts between people and to suggest solutions. Tolerance in particular is always a very important topic here. And here we are again on the subject of ‘listening’. This is the only way we can get to know and appreciate each other as different people in a respectful way.
Which places / spaces have a special significance in your art?
I need the contrasts. When I look out of my studio, I see the Alps. But I am always drawn to Amrum on the North Sea, especially in winter. You can best tell which pictures were taken there by the small formats; large ones don’t fit in the car.
Do you surround yourself with other artists? What is your environment like? Are there people here who have an influence on your art?
The exchange with other artists is extremely important to me. However, I don’t just want to refer to visual artists. I have always been interested in the approach of different artists. By this I mean how they implement the same theme in their own field: how does a musician portray tolerance, a dancer respect or a writer hope. If everyone were open enough to their environment, there would be an abundance of influences.
What role do innovation and tradition play for you?
Tradition and innovation are two terms that actually differ in the timeline of art only by the date of observation. What was innovation yesterday is tradition today. And the two are mutually dependent. I can’t be innovative by wanting to create something new if I don’t know which artistic path I want to move away from. Without tradition, there can be no innovation, and vice versa. Tradition is not necessarily a bad thing, just as innovation is not necessarily the be-all and end-all. For me, it is important that a work says something to me emotionally. And these two terms are not relevant here.
Is there a work of art in your life that has particularly impressed you?
Oh yes, there is such a thing. Years ago, I saw the Andy Warhol painting of Mao Zedong in the Hamburger Bahnhof museum in Berlin. I was impressed by the effect of its incredible size with a height of 4.30 meters. Wow, this was a real experience.
What is your unique selling point that sets you apart from other artists?
This is more a question for the viewer to decide. But if you ask me, I think the creation process is very unique. Especially as you can’t see this in the finished painting. For me, the process of painting a portrait actually begins with a completely abstract painting on which the portrait is ultimately based. Sometimes it seems to me that I start with the inner life of a person and then finally pour it into form by hiding the resulting abstract emotions on the canvas in a kind of head. This brings us back to the subject of the façade.
Do you have any current or future projects that you would like to talk about?
My new project bears the beautiful name ‘lost faces’. Here I concentrate on depictions of faces that are somehow in the process of changing or, for example, disappearing from the canvas. Faces in passing or faces with distortions – be it through make-up or other masks. I am currently experimenting a lot with which painterly means I can realize this.
