Pauline Ziegen
We Ache in Secret
2023

Name: We Ache in Secret
Brand: Pauline Ziegen
Price: 13900 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Pauline Ziegen oil, gold leaf, mixed media on panel coral, pink, white gold, teal, aqua, rust, navy, blue Pauline Ziegen’s earliest landscape paintings were painted outdoors in Kansas where vast stretches of prairie lead to distant horizons. Representing the unique dichotomy of where the earth seems to meet the sky or the apparent boundary between earth and sky, the horizon is, she says, “an ever-shifting location that you can never reach, yet it is always compelling.” At the time, Ziegen’s landscapes were representational; however, she has been “editing” ever since, creating suggestive abstractions inspired by the landscapes she views from a ridge-top home and studio on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. “...abstraction is all about editing and simplifying the visual world into formal elements that become metaphors of emotion,” says Ziegen. Pauline Ziegen explores a modernist view of the landscape using ephemeral darkened tones and techniques reminiscent of the old masters and romantic painters: Turner, Corot and Innes who used complex layering to shape light. In addition, her mark making suggests an interested in modernists such as: Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell and Cy Twombly. Her signature mark is the inclusion of a few select dotted lines etched in the surface of the under painting that are revealed upon close inspection of the work. These marks suggest a passage of time. They are a reminder of that which is no longer in view... the movement of the clouds, a trace of the past. She uses the renaissance technique sfumato - a term coined by Leonardo da Vinci to describe a process that softly blurs the edges of objects and color tones to give the illusion of depth. She is also drawn to the perceptual elements and materials of Chinese and Japanese art. “I love the way the artists convey the illusion of space using minimalist drawing techniques, and I find the gold leaf in Japanese folding screens both traditional and austerely modern. Their craftsmanship and the integration of art and life in Eastern philosophies have inspired my work ever,” she says. Ziegen’s paintings are minimal renderings of the landscape. They celebrate the spiritual essence of our relationship with the land and nature. No matter what direction or approach I take, these pictorial devices and philosophical leanings are infused in my sensibility - that, and being raised on the edge of the prairie, gives me a sense of my place in the landscape.

Creator:

Pauline Ziegen (American)

Creation Year:

2023

Dimensions:

Height: 48 in (121.92 cm)Width: 52 in (132.08 cm)Depth: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)

Medium:

Panel,Oil

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

21st Century