“My paintings, sculptures and photographs reveal what lies behind the obvious: Transitional worlds, shape changes, processes in flux. Everything is constantly in motion, time and space are questioned. I paint to break the vortex, to capture a moment.”
Nicola Barth, born in Mölln in 1966, currently resides and works near Frankfurt am Main. She earned her master's degree in German Studies at JW Goethe University in Frankfurt.
Originally aspiring to be a writer, Nicola soon abandoned the pen in favor of the paintbrush, seeking new forms of expression. Words were no longer adequate to describe the profound and enduring metamorphic processes occurring in non-obvious realms.
"Non-representational painting has become my language without words. It resonates with me because I am documenting worlds and expanses where languages are spoken that we do not (yet) know. My gaze is always directed towards the depths, beneath, above, and within worlds of experience that elude the obvious. Therefore, my language must also emanate from the depths of the experience of being—an alternative, open form of communication that is apprehended through different senses. It is a language of impression, expression, and frequency, devoid of naming, evaluation, or classification."
In addition to exploring transformation and shape-shifting, her work delves into themes of language and space, intertwined with questions of identity, alienation, individual fragmentation, and one's place in space and time. Her paintings can be perceived as fleeting visual glimpses that provide insight into a temporally and spatially confined stage of an ongoing developmental process.
"My artistic journey navigates the interstices of existence, where opposites merge and ambivalence prevails. It unveils my perspective into an imperceptible world. I delve into states of transformation and the intermediate spaces where things exist in neither one state nor the other. My fascination lies in the ambiguity and convergence of different states, where absence and presence coexist.
Painting and drawing, primarily in graphite and oil, are supplemented by three-dimensional artworks and digitally processed photography (Spacetime Metamorphoses, 2021). The content adheres to the same principle, remaining as abstract and surreal as her paintings."
