Posts by April Dell

Hyacinthe Ouattara’s textile sculptures currently on show at Ronewa Art Projects are intricate and colorful organic forms containing traces of memory and identity. We chatted to Ouattara about fabric as a reflection of humanity and his artistic quest to explore the emotion and spirit it can hold.

On the occasion of the duo show 'Reclaimed' at Ronewa Art Projects in Berlin, we interviewed exhibiting artist Marinda Vandenheede. For her third showcase with Ronewa, Vandenheede continues her practice of repurposing used and worn objects, creating sculptural works that instigate curiosity and find beauty in decay.

Marinda Vandenheede’s new series Oxygen continues her use of curious found objects combined with her own geometric formal language. For this series, she repurposes cardboard punched card patterns used in industrial loom weaving, overlaying them with hand-painted geometric designs guided by a minimalist logic of repetition and symmetry.

Vandenheede's Oxygen series will be featured in the Ronewa online viewing room from June 1 to July 1, 2022. We chatted to Vandenheede about balancing abstract compositions with found objects, and the histories and complexities inherent within the materials themselves. 

 

Read the exhibition press release here.

Ahead of her solo online exhibition, Ronewa chatted to Hungarian-American artist Clara Berta about her new series of works ‘Blue Confgurations.’ Berta shares insight into her creative process that brings together intuition, movement,  and inspirations from nature that give her gestural forms an organic quality.

The online exhibition ‘Blue Configurations (Paper) Series’ is live in the Ronewa viewing room from February 14 to March 14, 2022. Read the exhibition press release here.

Ronewa had the pleasure of meeting up with American artist Douglas Diaz as he traveled through Berlin to chat about his introspective art-making process and the profound ideas about memory and identity that thread his new series Memorias (Memories) together. We delved into concepts of identity construction and collective histories, the artist’s disciplined practice of meditation, and how place impacts his work.

 

The online exhibition Memorias (Memories) is live in the Ronewa online viewing room from November 17 to December 31, 2021. Read the press release here.

Canadian artist Antonietta Grassi employs a language of geometric abstraction to paint enigmatic forms that spark associations. Through her intuitive painting process of layering flat shapes and lines, she creates distorted three-dimensional objects influenced by memories and her environment.

 

Ronewa Art Projects talked to Grassi about the objects, spaces and histories that influence her forms and concepts. The online exhibiton 'Off Line,' featuring Grassi's recent works on paper, linen and canvas is live in the Ronewa viewing room from August 4 to September 4, 2021. 

Read the exhibiton press release here.

Chinese-Finnish artist Canal Cheong Jagerroos creates richly layered mixed-media canvases and immersive installations that combine traditional Chinese art techniques and materials with a distinctive visual language of symbols, textures, color, and abstraction. Her multidimensional, enigmatic compositions communicate both the artist’s inner world and an open invitation to find meaning. 

 

We talked to Cheong Jagerroos about her creative process of deconstruction, how the places she lives influences her practice, and the inspirations behind her new series of works on show in the upcoming online exhibition, opening in the Ronewa viewing room on June 16, 2021. 

We chatted to Swiss-Tibetan artist Tashi Brauen ahead of his exhibition at SAC Gallery, Bangkok, and online exhibition in the Ronewa online viewing room, opening on April 8, 2021.

 

Brauen discusses the origins and different processes of the two series of works on show, which both employ unique mark-marking methods that balance intention and coincidence. 

Marinda Vandenheede repurposes found objects marked by use and time to create quietly enchanting sculptural objects and paper works that spark curiosity and wonder. Her exhibition ‘Re:Generations’ opens in the Ronewa online viewing room on March 3, 2021. 

 

Vandenheede juxtaposes unique signs of a past life and the natural degradation of materials with geometric forms and surprising compositions. Her playful works nod to the inherent dualities found within humanity and nature, and invite viewers to see the beauty in decay.

 

We talked to Vandenheede about her relationship to her chosen materials and objects, the conceptual balance she strikes in her compositions, and the moment of stillness she offers her viewers.

The upcoming online exhibition ‘In Plain Sight’ with American-Swiss artist Michèle Colburn presents recent works from her stirring abstract series of gunpowder paintings. Read the press release here.

 

Colburn employs symbolically loaded materials connected to violence and war. Through her process, she disarms the explosive substance and creates beautiful and poignant works that invite reflection on violent histories and current realities. The works soon on exhibit in the Ronewa viewing room were all created in 2020, many under Covid lockdown conditions in Washington, DC.

 

We caught up with Ms. Colburn and discussed her use of symbolic materials, her gunpowder painting process, and the personal and political contexts of her work. Our conversation took place just a day before the shocking events on January 6th in Washington, DC, and her works feel more relevant now than ever.

The upcoming online exhibition ‘Ritardando - In Color’ by Berlin-based artist Elisabeth Sonneck features works that continue her exploration into the physical relations of form and color in space. 

 

Ritardando is a musical term meaning a gradual decrease in speed. This sense of slowing down describes Sonneck’s rhythmic repetition of broad and steady brushstrokes that allow nuances of color variations and interactions to play out on paper and canvas surfaces. These surfaces are gently manipulated into dynamic shapes that form a dialogue between the intrinsic properties of her everyday materials and situational elements of space, light, environment, and audience. Read the press release here.

 

We talked to Sonneck about her process, her love of paper, and the spatial relationships that make each installation of her works unique. 

Rico Lascano's upcoming exhibition in the Ronewa Online Viewing Room opens on September 3rd. We talked to him about his meditative art practice, nature and spirituality, and making art during lockdown.

 

Lascano's abstract practice draws from the breathtaking nature in the Philippines, the spiritual traditions of his home country, and his own quest for serenity and peace in a busy world. Within his floating compositions and delicately textured expanses, Lascano creates boundless spaces of stillness and timelessness. He invites viewers to occupy the transcendantal space of his inner journey.

With one week to go before Mireille Gros' online exhibition opens, I had the pleasure of chatting to the Swiss artist about her ongoing botanical drawing project. Gros shared insights on her relationship with nature, her artistic process, and her new series created for the Ronewa Online Viewing Room. 

Opening to the public on June 19th, 2020, is Ronewa Art Projects’ first online exhibition—the beginning of a new era of online art. Swiss artist Tashi Brauen presents a new series of works born out of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. We talk to Brauen about his new works and the online art world.