Interview with Andrea Kainer

Andrea Kainer has always possessed a creative nature, but she came to her true destiny via detours. At the age of 28, there was a "mental breakdown" in her life. Through painting, she found her very own kind of therapy, which was ultimately a reanimation of her own world. Through the creative process, she loses all sense of space and time and enters a kind of meditative state to process the spiritual world.

‍

Why did you decide to pursue an artistic career?

Painting is my greatest passion. My love. My life.

Creativity and, above all, the world of colors have always played a major role in my life, but in the past, I never imagined how much I would need painting in my life or what an enormously important role it would play in my life. Only after a seemingly endless, conflict-ridden, and painful stage in my life did I realize that my fascination with colors and creative work fulfills me more than anything else and that I need painting like the air I breathe. Through painting, I found my very own kind of therapy, which was ultimately a reanimation of my own world. My first successes with art sales and positive responses to my art at exhibitions were short in coming, and this gave me, of course, even more incentive to dedicate myself more intensively to art.

A mental breakdown was, so to speak, the trigger for me to decide in 2017 for my absolute fulfillment - the profession as an artist.

‍

‍

What inspires your work every day?

The awareness that I feel deep inner satisfaction in the creative process and that I can fill up on strength and energy inspires me a lot. What inspires me most is that through abstract painting, I can transfer my inner world to the outside.

What themes do you deal with in your art, and why is that so important to you?

The largest space in my art takes the theme of life. My representation of the series "LIFE" reflects life in all its facets and the emotional states often associated with it. The viewer is encouraged to courageously face life with all its ups and downs. With some life situations and emotions, I deal more intensively, and from these then arises a new series of its own again. I want to encourage the viewer to believe in themselves and their strengths - because faith moves mountains. My art should inspire and inspire to develop its full potential and give courage in difficult times.

Another area in my art deals with our earth and all its beauties.

The vibrant energies of the series "EARTH" arise from my absolute enthusiasm for travel and fascination for the wonderful diverse landscapes of our planet.

This theme is also very close to my heart, and I would like to invite the viewer to be open and curious and to look more closely at our world and get to know it better, to expand their own horizons.

‍

‍

What aspect of the creative process do you like best?

Immersing myself in the world of colors makes my heart do somersaults and makes me feel the lightness of life that is often lost these days. But above all, experimenting with new materials and techniques gives me great pleasure. In addition, through the creative process, I find a way to express my feelings and lose all sense of space and time. I enter, so to speak, a kind of meditative state to process the spiritual world.

‍

How would you describe your technique?

My art style is abstract, often very colorful and contrasting, powerful and vibrant, and is defined by experimenting with different media. Because of my love of experimentation, I can not and do not want to commit to a single technique… There is still so much to discover! However, flowing color, as well as resin techniques, are my element, and mixed media techniques with structures increase the expressiveness of my works and give them even more depth.

‍

‍

Do you start your work with a preconceived concept or idea of what you want to achieve, or is the result unexpected?

I can never say in advance what exactly will emerge, so the end result is always unexpected. I just think about what color direction I want my work to go in and whether I want to work with textures, epoxy, flowing colors, or a completely new medium that I haven't tried yet. But what exactly I want to achieve with my work usually crystallizes during the creative process.

‍

How do you know or decide when a work of art is finished?

When my inner voice or the artwork tells me: Now I'm done!

But it can also happen that my inner voice or the work of art doesn't feel like "talking" to me, and then I put my work aside until it literally screams for me to finally finish it. This can sometimes take a few weeks, months, or even years. But then, I am all the more satisfied with the end result.

‍

‍

What other creative people, books, music, or films inspire you?

Two creative people who have inspired me throughout my life are Paulo Coelho and Paolo Nutini. I like the way Paulo Coelho packs universal life wisdom into exciting and emotional stories and quite often goes on a journey into the soul and thoughts of his characters. His books give hope, give courage and touch me very much. Paolo Nutini is my favorite musician because of his extraordinary voice, song lyrics, and special musical style.

‍

Do you have certain rituals or indispensable objects in your studio?

In the past, my works were always created completely in silence, but now I listen to music quite often during the creative process, and then the cell phone is an indispensable object. (Note: in the studio, my phone is always set to silent because I do not want to be disturbed in my creative process).

‍

‍

Do you work with real-life examples, or are your works mainly based on fantasy?

I work mainly with examples from real life. My works are strongly based on my inner world of feelings, my intuition, and certain life situations and their emotions and energies. In the implementation of my ideas are no limits to artistic freedom, and so I let my imagination run wild.

‍

How do you come up with the titles of your artworks?

The title finding runs with me quite differently. Sometimes it happens that during the creation of a work, I listen to a song over and over again – in an endless loop, so to speak – because the mood of the music conforms to my emotion. Through certain song text passages or isolated words, the titles of series and works of art then literally fly to me. But it can also happen that a title arises only at the end of the painting process, so to speak when the picture is finished, and I let it affect me once again - quite intuitively. Thus, the specific effect and meaning of the colors sometimes also have a great influence on the title finding.

‍

Would you tell us more about your current project? What are you working on?

Currently, I am working on several series at the same time. I am creating works for already existing series but also new series. Above all, I am currently working on a series that is dedicated to a very specific color and its effect on us humans. Which color that is still remains a secret, but so much is already revealed: this series is very much experimental with different materials and techniques.

‍

Where would you like to exhibit your work and why?

In larger cities and major art metropolises such as Vienna, New York, Milan, and Barcelona;because it has always been one of my biggest dreams to gain a foothold in the international art market with my art.

‍

Where do you see your career as an artist in 5 years?

I believe that in five years, my dream will have come true, and my works will be seen at exhibitions all over the world.

‍

Visit Andrea Kainer's website now:

https://www.andreakainer.com/