We visited the artist Anne Hoenig in her studio situated on a hill overlooking the Morna Valley. Born in Sonoma, California, she has held several exhibitions in the USA and gave her first European exhibition in the Libro Azul here in Ibiza. Since 2004 she has exhibited most of her new works in Berlin's 'Loop' Gallery.
During our interview she provided us with a commentary on a work from her major 'Time Slice' series.
During our interview she provided us with a commentary on a work from her major 'Time Slice' series.
Each work is like a contained moment, like memory, a slice of time which depicts states of mind or forms of consciousness. The mind-spaces of devotion, shame, despair, hurt, surrender, self-respect, love, innocence, pride, loneliness, desire, joy, beauty and dreaming are all themes within this work. These paintings could be regarded as a sequence or narrative, but they are not. Meaning does not exist between the works.
The almost-physical reaction that some people have in front of these paintings derives from our individual reading of physiognomy and posture, and their relation to memory. In fact, memory rather than actual eyesight is used to understand the work. The infinitely complex and subtle language of the face is the first and only language we all learn in infancy. This interpretation of others is essential to our survival. Yet, in the reading of physiognomy, we all have such imperfect skills. Exact meaning eludes us. This work confronts this lack of skill. The paintings are enigmatic. What is it that we can’t see and can’t read? What is beyond our understanding and beyond the frame?
I used only one model to curtail questions of identity. In creating particular environments, I strove for a memory-like minimalism. All things portrayed are part of common experience. Everything reveals something familiar. We know it is a bedroom, we know that it is grass or water, but we know little else. Thus, the surrounding objects function almost as iconic extensions of her state of mind. When a man is portrayed, he is placed in such a way as to avoid giving him prominence. He is present, yet hidden. He is an emotional presence that questions our presence.
Paintings are emotional generators. The technical finesse, the dense and lush surfaces, the rivers of light and the detail are merely vehicles towards evoking deeper and more basic emotions. The paintings are aural, - radiating and beckoning at the same time. The work explores the language of gesture and the narrative of posture. It confronts our understanding of the persistent, changeable, elusive and enigmatic nature of memories. There is an intensity in the representation that derives from the desire to see a truth revealed. Yet what is it that we are seeing? The quality of the images lies in their uncertainty - in a mystery that is not explained.
The keys to this work are the intimate immensity of the preserved moment, the power of gestures to evoke emotion, and the states of mind in between all actions.
The keys to this work are the intimate immensity of the preserved moment, the power of gestures to evoke emotion, and the states of mind in between all actions.
