Art is concrete. Talking about art is abstract. The impact of art is direct and eludes any attempt at explanation, and yet it may be helpful for some to ponder the question “How is Eva's art created?” in in an intellectual manner.
Eva hardly talks about art. She quickly breaks off any conversation which tries to theorize about it. In the following an attempt will be made to elucidate what Eva actually does from an outsider´s perspective. In this context two questions have to be answered. Firstly, “What is art?” and secondly “What is the role of the artist in the creation of art?”
But unfortunately these questions approach art in an abstract way and that is why Eva would immediately point out to us, slightly grumpily, that here, right from the beginning, already a fundamental mistake is made. Sice for Eva, art is never abstract, but always concrete, always real. You can only paint what is – yes, in its most comprehensive totality, but IS. Inside - Outside, in their respective peculiarities and similarities, in their contrasts and dependencies, as a whole. This principle even applies to “abstract” art. Now: What is this reality that manifests itself in every picture. This reality is life energy brought into form. And so Eva´s art can perhaps best be summed up as:
"Art is life energy brought into form – impacting onto life"
In 2019, Namibia experienced its worst drought in over 60 years. Rivers ebbed away, water holes ran dry. It was the fifth consecutive year without proper rain. Game and cattle starved and died of thirst by the thousands. During the Namibian summer of 2019, Eva spent some time on a farm that was particularly hard hit by the drought. The sight of a farmhand disemboweling a dead cow to salvage the remaining meat, or the sight of a dead antelope in the back of a pickup truck usually elicits a spontaneous reaction to pull away from all this misery made of distress, feces, blood and death. We instinctively block such situations because we can't endure them. Turning towards the situation and absorbing the energy working in it, requires strength and courage. Artists need this courage and have to be mentally stable enough to bring these energies into an artistic form and not to be overwhelmed by them. They have to absorb the energy of the situation and let it flow into a painting. In this they act as a medium. The life energy working in the situation is channeled through the artist into the art work. As a result, the energies take on humanized form that can now be felt and endured by people who cannot perceive or endure the energy in its original raw state.
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Life energy is only accessible in the moment. Consequently, in order for art be possible, three aspects must come together: Firstly the direct perception of reality, or to put it another way: the complete acceptance of and openness to the moment. Secondly, the ability to absorb the energy working in the moment and finally the necessary skills to capture it in an artistic form. All three aspects require talent, but also a lot of practice, hard work and the openness and willingness to face life directly and let it actually touch, change and develop oneself.
The primary artistic talent is direct perception. Artists see reality in a completeness and depth that often remains hidden from the layman. This direct perception is the prerequisite for being able to act as a medium. By illuminating the unrecognized reality in their works, artists provoke a recognition in the viewer. The artist does not create a new reality, but makes aspects of this one, all-encompassing reality visible to the viewer, which would otherwise remain obscure. In this process, the energy in the situation is transformed into an artistic, i.e. humanized form, which now allows the viewers to let this energy have an effect on themselves and their own lives. This is what the artist's service to mankind may be: From life to art and art to life.
The artist's perception is not exhausted by sensory seeing and certainly not in cognitive recognition, but consists much more in a complete absorption of the situation, especially the energies at work in it. Energies are absorbed by letting them work on you. In dramatic situations, especially those in which life and death are at stake, almost everyone feels this special energy. Artists are distinguished by the fact that they become aware of the effects of life energy even in situations that seem boring and insignificant to us. Even from a landscape, a still life, an animal or a plant, life itself speaks to the artist very clearly and wants to become a painting.
The perceptual abilities of artists are extremely enhanced. Even in the most inconspicuous situations and occurrences, it can happen that life confronts them with all its might. This makes it clear why a third aspect is needed, namely the ability to capture energy in form. The form must hold, even if the energies threaten to become overwhelming. Otherwise the form breaks and what then emerges is no longer art, but dilettantism. The more impressive the art, the stronger the form and the more powerful the energy contained within it.
That is why there is no art without technical skills and the struggle for these skills is an essential part of every art form and the development of every artist. Artists who no longer seriously exert themselves to improve their technical skills, have either reached the level of a Picasso (unlikely) or do not do justice to their vocation (likely). That is why artists also need the passion to expose themself to the struggle for and with the form, which starts quite profanely with craftsmanship, like drawing, foreshortening or the subtleties of color theory and does not end with a watercolor technique, in which a whole world is created with a few brushstrokes. Perhaps Eva's most outstanding quality is not to spare herself in this regard. She perceives the standards that she applies to her own work as quasi “objective”, knowing full well that there can be no such thing as objective criteria in art. On the other hand, she is firmly convinced that she did not set these standards herself, but experiences them as anchored in life and art itself. Most of the time she experiences her work as falling short of the demands of reality (apart from a few particularly bright creative moments may be). And so, for Eva, art is a way. A life path full of inadequacies, struggles, and perceived mediocrity. If only Eva had her way, hardly any of her pictures would have made it onto this webpage. But that would really be a shame.
Friedrich Böbel, November 2022