Isabelle Fein
born 1973
Isabelle Fein constructs a visual language based on the poetics of dreams and melancholy. The artist abandons formalism in favour of improvisation and the play of free associations. She begins her work on a painting with the application of a few colour splashes, which she then develops into a spectacle unfolding as a stream of consciousness. This absolute freedom of imagination in the creation of a composition means that the characters or figurative forms appearing on canvas seem separate from one another, as if immersed in their own logic — as in the painting depicting a giant crab and a naked female body emerging from the depths of the water. At other times, the elements of the composition do not fit together at all (a jellyfish against the backdrop of a forest). The poetics of dreams, a visual language based on imagination, and the distinctive use of colours imitating watercolour painting, evoke associations with the work of Marc Chagall. ‘Painting is like surfing,’ says Fein, ‘you immerse yourself in it, trusting in your own skill.’ In her work, the artist reaches back to her memories and attempts to recreate the emotions accompanying past events on canvas.
