Markus Heinzelmann
Familiarity
Ulrike Möschel`s works unite qualities that would at first glance seem to be cotradictory. The artist often uses widely familiar images and symbols such as the mirror, the children´s swing, the glow of a streetlight, or the idea that the unknown might intrude upon our world, be it through a closed door or from the darkness Unterm Bett (Under the Bed, 2008); and yet her installations, sculptures, and films convey quite personal impressions, directly adressing the individual beholder. Many works seem ephemeral, like the Sprüche (Sayings), invididual words and short sentences she has recorded on paper sind 2004, or the Schattenvögel (Shadow Birds), whose silhouettes she made of foil and pasted to a window in 2008; yet Möschel always translates such marginal subjects into universally valid form by means of great formal claritiy and rigor. Finally, the materials and places from which the artist draws inspiration as she develops her concepts-as she puts it, she positively „abandons“ herself to them-acquire a particular significance: only by virtue of a high degree of fidelity to the materials and site-specifity do the differences and disruptions emerge that let what is self-evident appear strange. With a keen sense for nuance, Möschel balances the seemingly paradoxical elements of her work, creating a state of suspense in the rooms where she presents her work that oscilates irresolvably between recollections of everyday life and imaginary worlds.
By applying silver leaf to a windowpane at Museum Morsbroich, Möschel investigates an old technique of mirror production and at once highlights the baroque castle´s character an an ornamented Gesamtkunstwerk. In a second step, the artist removes a circumscribed section of this silver-leaf skin by scratching. The resulting blank is designed to imitate as exactly as possible the shape of the wrought-iron grille adorning and protecting the window from the outside. As in a mirror cabinet, positive and negative forms are thus interwoven in multiple refractions, initiating a dazzling play of light and meaning.
Precious metals also appear in Weiße Schaukel (White Swing, 2009). The artist has unraveled the original ropes an which it is suspended at hand-height, joining the ends using a small piece of silver wire sheathed in a flutter of white gold. The white-lacquered wood, the white ropes, and the precious metals create the impression of porcelain-like fragility as well as inviolacy in the true, childlike sense.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, 2010
Familiarity
Ulrike Möschel`s works unite qualities that would at first glance seem to be cotradictory. The artist often uses widely familiar images and symbols such as the mirror, the children´s swing, the glow of a streetlight, or the idea that the unknown might intrude upon our world, be it through a closed door or from the darkness Unterm Bett (Under the Bed, 2008); and yet her installations, sculptures, and films convey quite personal impressions, directly adressing the individual beholder. Many works seem ephemeral, like the Sprüche (Sayings), invididual words and short sentences she has recorded on paper sind 2004, or the Schattenvögel (Shadow Birds), whose silhouettes she made of foil and pasted to a window in 2008; yet Möschel always translates such marginal subjects into universally valid form by means of great formal claritiy and rigor. Finally, the materials and places from which the artist draws inspiration as she develops her concepts-as she puts it, she positively „abandons“ herself to them-acquire a particular significance: only by virtue of a high degree of fidelity to the materials and site-specifity do the differences and disruptions emerge that let what is self-evident appear strange. With a keen sense for nuance, Möschel balances the seemingly paradoxical elements of her work, creating a state of suspense in the rooms where she presents her work that oscilates irresolvably between recollections of everyday life and imaginary worlds.
By applying silver leaf to a windowpane at Museum Morsbroich, Möschel investigates an old technique of mirror production and at once highlights the baroque castle´s character an an ornamented Gesamtkunstwerk. In a second step, the artist removes a circumscribed section of this silver-leaf skin by scratching. The resulting blank is designed to imitate as exactly as possible the shape of the wrought-iron grille adorning and protecting the window from the outside. As in a mirror cabinet, positive and negative forms are thus interwoven in multiple refractions, initiating a dazzling play of light and meaning.
Precious metals also appear in Weiße Schaukel (White Swing, 2009). The artist has unraveled the original ropes an which it is suspended at hand-height, joining the ends using a small piece of silver wire sheathed in a flutter of white gold. The white-lacquered wood, the white ropes, and the precious metals create the impression of porcelain-like fragility as well as inviolacy in the true, childlike sense.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, 2010