Women United ART MOVEMENT
is proud to present

BEYOND THE IDEAS A BIRD IS FLYING

a solo exhibit by

PETRA SCHOTT

ARTIST BIO

Petra Schott is a German abstract painter whose art revolves around states of mind, longings, and memories. As she lost her mother as a young child, she grew up missing emotional warmth, so she found her security in rational, abstract thinking that led her to law studies. During the stress of her first law exam, she discovered a watercolour set, a forgotten gift from a friend. She started - and never gave up painting again. After her second law exam, she followed her passions and enrolled in Fine Arts Degree at the Art Academy. When choosing her profession, she opted for security, becoming a judge. For a long time, she combined both - on the one hand, her interest in rational problem-solving and her need for security and, on the other hand, her passion for painting - perhaps as a result of trying to achieve balance in life. In 2014, she stopped working in the legal field and has since attracted the attention of national and international galleries, art critics, and collectors. Highly influenced by the works of Cy Twombly, Leiko Ikemura, Joan Mitchell, Marlène Dumas, Elisabeth Cummings, and Henri Matisse, the artist’s work is emotionally charged and in direct dialogue with the viewer who is invited into an open space for expression.

In her works, Schott delicately creates colourful representations of nostalgia, freedom and human relationships while exploring nature and an intangible realm with loosely outlined human facial expressions. She weaves personal and collective memories found in her daily life into shapes, marks and lines, creating an abstract language of painting that oscillates between lyrical abstraction and figurative references. Art curator Nell Cardozo wrote about her works: “There is a generous intimacy in Schott’s use of colour that coaxes out a subtle interplay between comfort and longing. Looking into them is like looking into a dream that belongs to some common consciousness.”

Petra Schott regularly exhibits nationally and internationally.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are created in a space between abstract and figurative art. They are associative and inspired by inner images and visions. The shapes, objects, landscapes and humans are situated in a fictive realm, entering into a conversation with the viewer at a deep level. Painting, for me, is the most "fluid" way to come to terms with all I want to express. I invite you into a space of associations, like a poem or music that can only be understood by letting it act within. For a long time in my life working as a judge and lawyer, I was challenging my left hemisphere. As a painter, I want to find balance and bring all the wealth of my right hemisphere into my paintings. Both professions and all the acquired skills accompanying them are part of my identity. The persons or faces popping up are captured in a specific moment of intensity, often only half visible, as if in a dream. I want to find the moment of true expression with all subconscious depths and wealth. I scribble into my paintings, transferring my thoughts, associations and memories on the surface, thus creating a meta-level different from my paintings' visible shapes and colours. I hardly ever have an idea of the whole painting in the beginning. I start with colours and forms and associations, a poem in mind or a situation, the season or my mental state. Then a magical moment occurs, and the painting reveals itself to me; the shapes and colours become more explicit, and I take it up from there. I stay very cautious and present to create what is true for me at the moment, a process which often goes together with lots of new layers of colour.

Frankfurt / Germany

www.petra-schott.de