“I appreciate all initiatives that deal with sustainability in relation to future human life.”
Name
Verena Kandler
Profession
Visual Artist
Website
Where are you from?
From Augsburg, but currently living near Munich.
Your style in 3 words?
Pop-surrealistic material transformation.
Your weakness? Your strength?
Working outside of the established art scene.
What makes you different?
I work with new upcycling materials such as plastic garbage or pvc banners.
When did you decide to become an artist?
When I realized that this profession offers a wide range of possibilities in terms of subject areas, cooperation partners, and variety.
What do you find most fascinating about the creative process?
Although I never had problems with the initial white background, it has become established over time that I work with found materials and motifs. They give me a frame of reference and in reality it’s actually just the same: We do not move and act in an empty space – we find ourselves in a jungle of visualities in between given signs, symbols and motifs. In my artistic work I question and play with them, attack and transform them.
A few words about your favourite creation?
Difficult to say what my own favorite work is. I like “Hundemeute” a lot – it shows the material approach and transformation very clearly: the female monster attacks patriarchal power structures and seems invincible. My favorite project was the participatory exhibition #nofilter in Landsberg, where I worked with images from social media and the visitors’ self-image.
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
Street and Urban Artists in general and also movements like Adbusting. From an interventionist perspective, I really like Barbara Kruger’s work that is reminiscent of commercial art. From a painting perspective, for example, I appreciate the organic and body-emphasizing art of Maria Lassnig or Miriam Cahn. Outside the art world, I appreciate all initiatives that deal with sustainability in relation to future human life.
Who would you like to work with someday and why?
In many areas that at first glance are not in contact with art: companies, nature conservation associations, science, or even politics. For me, it is a great concern to bring art to places where it can act in a new and innovative way, because it is in these places that art is maybe needed the most.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
I just moved to Munich, so I’ll see what happens here in terms of projects and exhibitions. Otherwise, it excites me to continue to work with various waste materials, perhaps a cooperation with recycling centers or the industry. I would also like to bring a new level to my analog work by means of symbols of the digital world (such as QR codes). Here you can see how interwoven these areas are: Analog is hardly possible without digital and likewise the other way around.
Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“
…to save our planet!
Where are we going?
Let’s go to 2022, when hopefully we will have the freedom to care about other things than the pandemic.
When the going gets tough…
…have a drink and good series.
Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?
Our organics will merge even more with inorganics, there will be microplastic-fishing robots and houses on stilts that draw their energy from their environment.
What would you do if you could change the World?
I would fire all incompetent politicians.
If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
Into the tiniest micro cell.
Tell us about your future plans…
Work, paint, chill, sleep
Your city’s favourite spots?
I’ve only been in Munich for a short time, but I’ve already discovered some small unknown and trashy bars. Museums and buildings like Villa Stuck and the countryside areas outside the city.
Last but not least: what is your favourite Song?
Changes all the time!
One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“
A mixture of them all
Your #…?
#materialtransformation
