In addition to the beautiful art work by Korean artists at the St. Regis Al Habtoor City, there was a corridor of art by German artist Elizabeth Krogull, her first time in Dubai. Her paintings are with several bright colours that upon closer look, I was almost sure that she’d used two types of techniques in her paintings.

I didn’t have a chance to speak to her as she explained her work in German to the people at the exhibition. But the PR agency was able to secure some answers of hers to my questions.

 

The artist’s work is signified by the opaque and what I’d call happy colours – both the floral and the abstract paintings bring out the essence of what she feels. I totally agree with her that positive art brings harmony to the spirit and when used in therapeutic settings such as hospitals and clinics, bring about a sense of calmness. She says: “I use delicate colour palette in my work, and especially though that are present to us in nature. Colours definitely affect our psyche and that’s why I seek to create artworks that evoke such meaning so that they become like balm for the soul.” As a result, her paintings hang on the walls of a private clinic in Duesseldorf, Germany.

 

 

Her ability to use various paints, from transparent to opaque and thick impasto styles applied with the artist’s best friendly tool called the palette knife. Of her floral paintings, of which the layered bud technique had be intrigued. She was inspired by Monet and has used the palette knife technique to achieve the sense of realness of the flowers.

 

Impasto styled floral paintings

 

There was another batch of paintings that were as tall as me, in which upon closer inspection, It’s almost as if some of the painted layers were carefully peeled away to uncover an element of surprise that was seen in the other layers. For example, as a result of this technique, I could almost see a sultan awaiting to fly on the magic carpet and his stallion rear its head with his followers in tow near the cliff. Elizabeth explains that there are several undercoats of paints and then she adds another layer or two of paint that are of complimentary colour. “I then scratch them out to show the under layer painting. It’s a technique I’ve followed by Gerhard Richter and am always amazed at what the abstract painting with turn out. It’s like a mystery not only to me but also to those who view my paintings.” It looks like a lot of work, which she confirms it is but, “The results are always satisfying.”

At the heart of Elizabeth’s work is the need to inspire people to take some time off their busy lives and forget the act of ‘busy-ness’ if only for a few minutes. “My paintings are like a doorway into a magical world that’s full of colour and reminds them of fairy tales. Art is a great tool to help relieve stress, let their souls heal and when they come away from my exhibitions, they will carry with them a peace of my art in their minds and spirits.”

Of Dubai and St. Regis Al Habtoor city, she says: “I’m pleased to be exhibiting my work at the St. Regis Al Habtoor City.  I’m amazed at the grandeur of this hotel and it is a wonderful feeling seeing my paintings hanging in that venue. The thing that I love about Dubai is the architecture and this has already inspired me to create several paintings in Dubai.”

Elizabeth’s next show is in Hotel Gästehaus Meererbusch in the outskirts of Dusseldorf, so if you by chance happen to be there, do visit.

Visit the artist’s website: http://art-krogull.com/about-the-artist

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Content and photographs are by © Jan D’Sa.