Riccarda Raabe, Message From My Younger Self, 2022
Riccarda Raabe, Message From My Younger Self, 2022

“There’s no black and white, you can turn any weakness into a strength if you find the right way to channel it.”

Name
Riccarda Raabe

Profession
Artist

Website

riccardaraabe.com

Riccarda Raabe, Exhibition, What I fI Can Change Your Story, Annika Nagel Photography, Berlin 2022, Villa Heike
Riccarda Raabe, Exhibition What I fI Can Change Your Story, Villa Heike, Berlin 2022, Annika Nagel Photography

Where are you from?
Berlin

Your style in 3 words?
Bold, playful, and strange at times

Your weakness? Your strength?
I can be a brooder, but I think this is also why I am an artist. There’s no black and white, you can turn any weakness into a strength if you find the right way to channel it.

Riccarda Raabe, Living On The Edge, 2022
Riccarda Raabe, Living On The Edge, 2022
Riccarda Raabe, Digging Deeper, 2022
Riccarda Raabe, Digging Deeper, 2022
Riccarda Raabe, Pretend It's A Tree, 2021
Riccarda Raabe, Pretend It’s A Tree, 2021

What makes you different?
I’ve come to realize that we aren’t all that different from one another. Humanity has dealt with the same struggles for centuries, we aren’t that original, I’m afraid… I think deep down most of us have the same core desires of love, safety and self-fulfillment

When did you decide to become an artist?
My grandmother was a poet, my mother is a painter. I grew up around creative people but it took me quite a while to figure out where I want to go in life.

What do you find most fascinating about the creative process?
I work quite process-oriented with no preconceived outcome in mind. It excites me to follow my gut and trust my instincts. I take risks, try things out, change my mind and cover up what I’ve grown attached to. I am interested in finding that moment of honesty and awkwardness and allowing it to stay on the canvas, even if it’s a bit uncomfortable for both me and the viewer. It’s my way of reaching out to the world around me.

Riccarda Raabe, Let Me Stretch This Moment Into Infinity, 2022
Riccarda Raabe, Let Me Stretch This Moment Into Infinity, 2022

A few words about your favorite creation?
My favorite creations are the drawings my kids make. I strive every day to be as honest and careless as them in my work and I hope they can hang on to this attitude for as long as possible.

What surprised you most about your first art shows?
That you can go and do things on your own without asking for anyone’s permission or invitation.

Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
Tal R, Martha Jungwirth, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Cy Twombly, Mary Oliver, Hermann Hesse

Who would you like to work with someday and why?
Other artists are the greatest people to work with.

Riccarda Raabe, Hot Air Balloon, 2021
Riccarda Raabe, Hot Air Balloon, 2021

Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“
that I don’t miss this one short life and actually walk through it with open eyes and an open heart.

2023: Where are we going?
I don’t have a clue, but let’s find out.

Do you think about time as an artist?
The concept of time fascinates me – our limited human capacity to grasp it only as something linear, the fact that there can be no time without space…When I paint I continuously add layers of times, perspectives, desires and struggles onto the canvas and eventually turn a linear process into a multilayered, simultaneous experience for the viewer.

When the going gets tough…
I lean on my people.

Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, and what will our world look like in 50 years?
If we’re all still here, AI has probably taken over completely by then, writing our novels and love letters, choosing our spouses and creating the best feel-good vibes in our metaverse vacations.

What would you do if you could change the World?
Happy childhoods for everyone.

What does freedom mean when it comes to art?
It’s everything, maybe most importantly the freedom to be wrong.

“My favorite creations are the drawings my kids make.”

If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
This question makes me feel very insignificant (which is nice).

Tell us about your future plans.
To keep going and to take more risks.

Your city’s favorite spots?
My Kiez’s cobblestone streets are full of cafes and little stores, my friend’s kitchen tables, and my studio.

Riccarda Raabe, On The Road, 2021
Riccarda Raabe, On The Road, 2021
Riccarda Raabe, Remember The Ferris Wheel? 2021
Riccarda Raabe, Remember The Ferris Wheel? 2021
Riccarda Raabe, Let Me Get This Straight, 2021
Riccarda Raabe, Let Me Get This Straight, 2021

Last but not least: what is your favorite Song?
Maybe „Suzanne“ by Leonard Cohen

One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“
We’ll have to let it all go one day anyways.

Your #…?
#tgif