Where the wind takes me
01 February 2018 | Art and Entertainment
Yolanda Nel
With less than a month left to visit in Namibia, a local artist working in Germany has come back to showcase her art as part of a group exhibition
Kirsten Wechslberger packed her bags in May 2016, leaving Namibia to begin her journey in Germany. “I went to Germany for new experiences. To see how and what artists do there, how they survive and how the system works,” she says.
The Cats and Dogs group exhibition in which she is participating, is currently running in the National Art Gallery and has been two years in the making. “There is a lot of conceptual art that comments on nature. It is not just the natural environment but also the nature of people, systems and communication. Be prepared to use your imagination,” Kirsten says about the collection.
Although she doesn’t have much time left here before she heads back to Germany, she is happy to visit with her family and friends.
“Because everything is done in a hurry, I wish I could spend more time with them,” she says.
Kirsten is no newbie to the artists’ scene, having completed her 2-dimensional studies in 2005. Since then she dabbled with a few artworks in group exhibitions but really made her mark in 2012 with two solo exhibitions in Windhoek. “That is when I aggressively started being an artist,” she tells WE.
She works with a variety of materials, from video to sound or even her own body. “I love working with bioplastics and sand, a concept I came up with a few years back. And it is environment friendly!
“In my art, the idea is most important. The material will follow,” she says, adding that her inspiration comes from, “people and their actions”.
In the meantime Kirsten is also working on an exhibition with three other Namibian artists living in Berlin and that is being organised through Jürgen Becker from the Namibia Deutsche Stiftung. “I am planning to create some digital work based on Namibia,” she says proudly.
Kirsten is leaving for Germany tomorrow, with a plan to return in two years, “either to exhibit again or perhaps for good. I will see where life takes me.”
With less than a month left to visit in Namibia, a local artist working in Germany has come back to showcase her art as part of a group exhibition
Kirsten Wechslberger packed her bags in May 2016, leaving Namibia to begin her journey in Germany. “I went to Germany for new experiences. To see how and what artists do there, how they survive and how the system works,” she says.
The Cats and Dogs group exhibition in which she is participating, is currently running in the National Art Gallery and has been two years in the making. “There is a lot of conceptual art that comments on nature. It is not just the natural environment but also the nature of people, systems and communication. Be prepared to use your imagination,” Kirsten says about the collection.
Although she doesn’t have much time left here before she heads back to Germany, she is happy to visit with her family and friends.
“Because everything is done in a hurry, I wish I could spend more time with them,” she says.
Kirsten is no newbie to the artists’ scene, having completed her 2-dimensional studies in 2005. Since then she dabbled with a few artworks in group exhibitions but really made her mark in 2012 with two solo exhibitions in Windhoek. “That is when I aggressively started being an artist,” she tells WE.
She works with a variety of materials, from video to sound or even her own body. “I love working with bioplastics and sand, a concept I came up with a few years back. And it is environment friendly!
“In my art, the idea is most important. The material will follow,” she says, adding that her inspiration comes from, “people and their actions”.
In the meantime Kirsten is also working on an exhibition with three other Namibian artists living in Berlin and that is being organised through Jürgen Becker from the Namibia Deutsche Stiftung. “I am planning to create some digital work based on Namibia,” she says proudly.
Kirsten is leaving for Germany tomorrow, with a plan to return in two years, “either to exhibit again or perhaps for good. I will see where life takes me.”
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