Featured Artist e.wasserhase

Artist e.wasserhase shares an unusual collection of aboriginal-inspired art painted on palm bark. See more by visiting their website.

 

 

I was born in Hamburg, Germany, in the year of the Waterrabbit (Wasserhase). I have lived in England, France, Switzerland, and now share my time between Portugal and Spain.

 

 

With a background in psychology, I worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) for many years, I was lucky to have held various privileged positions and travelled the world. My connection to the natural environment was always important to me, and my prior work in the Environmental Health Department of the WHO was rewarding but also involved difficult times.

 

 

The period of COVID changed my perspective on life. I felt it was time for new adventures and for raising my awareness about the environment and the beauty of nature. I always had a passion for the arts, especially photography, stone sculpting, pottery and painting, which I practised whenever I had time.

 

 

In 2018, when my mother died, I developed a fascination for the beauty of natural materials which people consider waste, but which are very much like wood. My father had just died a few years prior and I still felt the pain. I cleaned the churchyard for my mother’s funeral and found palm bark which I took home and started painting with her paint.

 

 

She was 75 years old when she died and was 70 when she started painting. It was fascinating. Ever since, palm bark, leaves or branches, eucalyptus bark, or any garden waste suitable for painting have become my canvasses. They are usually destroyed, but I enjoy leading them to a new life cycle.

 

 

Aboriginal and ethnic paintings definitely inspire my pieces. As it is for the aboriginal people, my art is part of a healing process. It has helped me deal with the challenges I faced during the last years. I link painting on natural canvases to wellbeing, meditation, creativity, and joy.

 

 

Water and earth, as well as the invisible world, are important topics. I could never follow the complexity of the dreaming of the aboriginal people, but I follow my own inspiration and dreaming, parts of which may belong to my past, present or future. During my exhibitions many people have been intrigued. They have sought dialogue with me for a better understanding of my motivations and the materials I work with. I enjoy that very much.

 

 

I have two publications: Contemporary Amazons and Art and  Songs for Mother Nature. The first is a play with the femininity of the art pieces owing to their shape. The second is a joint venture with my husband who is among many other facets a poet. I have exhibited my pieces in the Algarve of Portugal and Andalucía, Spain. My next exhibition is upcoming in Andalucía.

 

e.wasserhase invites you to follow on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

 

 

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