Shapeshifting

The group exhibition Shapeshifting features works by Juliana Ortiz, Petra Polli and Kathrin Thiele – three artists who deal with form, transformation and identity in different ways. The title refers to mythological shape-shifters who can change their outward appearance at will – between human and animal, between reality and imagination. In this spirit, the artists approach the theme of transformation both in terms of content and form: they work with classical and experimental techniques, examine external and internal changes and explore processes of becoming, passing away and reforming. This results in works that oscillate between clarity and dissolution, representationalism and abstraction – an expression of a world in flux.

In her artistic work, Juliana Ortiz moves between inwardness and reference to the world. Her German-Spanish origins and the experience of a childhood spent between the suburbs of western Germany and southern Spain characterise her view of spaces in between – both geographically and emotionally. After studying painting and graphics at the HGB Leipzig and art therapy in Berlin, she now works both as a freelance artist and as an art therapist in the paediatric cancer ward of a clinic. Her works deal with mental states between isolation and awakening, withdrawal and opening up to the world. In her latest series of works, Ortiz condenses these feelings into ornamental, symbolic pictorial worlds. Her painting is poetic, imbued with subtle tensions and a sensitive balance of introspection and expressiveness.

Petra Polli focuses her attention on things that often go unnoticed in everyday life – objects that have lost their original function, remnants of supposedly past value. But she recognises what for many are just relics as the starting point for new stories. With a trained eye for the aesthetic in the fragmentary, she collects found objects, marked by use, time and decay. Her artistic transformation begins in a calm, almost meditative process: Polli removes rust and layers of colour, exposes structures, smoothes surfaces and reveals the hidden potential of the materials. This process resembles the polishing of a rough diamond – carefully, precisely and respectfully. A shiny varnish, a targeted neon lettering often forms the final touch.

Kathrin Thiele studied painting and graphic art at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig in the classes of Arno Rink and Neo Rauch. She has been represented in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, the Haus am Lützowplatz Berlin and the Torrance Art Museum (USA). Her works can be found in renowned collections such as the Philara Collection and the Sparkasse Leipzig. In her paintings, abstract and figurative elements meet and combine to create exciting pictorial spaces. Through the interplay of acrylic paint and acrylic varnish, between precise elaboration and
gestural expression, Thiele develops an unmistakable, dynamic visual language. Her works are usually created in series that approach a thematic focus with openness and a joy of association – without definitively defining it. In her current works, Thiele allows enlarged found objects such as berries, pine cones or plastic remnants to float in an undefined, psychedelic-looking space. The familiar objects appear alienated and enigmatic, at once near and far. The pictures thematise natural processes such as growth, decay or weathering – and raise questions about how we perceive, interpret and deal with nature.