protected because of their beauty

"Common on ponds and watercourses, but protected because of its beauty." writes Prof. Dr
Hermann Bothe (*3.6.1940 in Hildesheim; † 13.10.2022) from the Botanical Institute of the University of Cologne in his book "Die Pflanzenwelt im Großraum Köln" about the iris (Iris pseudacorus).
Katharina Gierlach was able to go on botanical walks with him through the Wahner Heide and the Eifel Nature Park.
In her pictures of marsh irises, the flowers are therefore painted with a particularly thick layer of colour in contrast to the leaves.
She has translated her botanical discoveries from the greater Cologne area, the Upper Palatinate Forest Nature Park and, most recently, Upper Lusatia into impasto oil paintings.
The experience of the abundance of nature creates the need to realise this through the appropriate
use of oil colours.
The fact that flowering plants are generally more often the focus of research than non-flowering ones can also be surmised from Katharina Gierlach's paintings.
The thick application of colour makes it clear that it is not only about the perception of landscape and nature, but also about the perception of art and painting and what we can discover in the process, e.g. the material of the oil paint, which here symbolises the lushness of nature.
Katharina Gierlach (*1983 in Würzburg, lives and works in Cologne and Winklarn) completed her studies as a master student of Prof Ottmar Hörl at the AdBK Nuremberg in 2011.
Vernissage 21.09.2024 at 7 pm
Open to the public:
KoOpf art night 27 Sept. 7-9 pm
Sundays 22/29 Sept. and 6 Oct. 2-4 p.m. each day

Last edited on 07.10.2024