10 Questions with Marina Wittemann

Marina WitteMann was born in 1984 in Moscow, Russia. Her art is inspired by the ability to perceive the world through complex experiences of color, space, and time.

Marina graduated from the Faculty of Law (2005) and worked in the auto business for ten years. After a dramatic change in 2013, Marina started her Fine Arts degree at Moscow State Academic Art Institute, named after V.I. Surikov in Russia.

In 2015 she completed an Exchange Program in São Paulo, Brazil, at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP University).

In 2017 she studied Traditional Chinese painting, Calligraphy, and Metaphysics in Shanghai, China.

Since 2019, the artist lives and works in Germany. Parallelly, she practices sculpture and continues researching for her practice at the University for the Creative Arts - Open College of the Arts (England).

www.marinawittemann.com | @wittemannmarina

ARTIST STATEMENT

From childhood, Marina WitteMann saw strong emotions always combined with color impressions. When this happened, there was the need to recreate the color of this inner experience, and that's when Marina started to paint. She was searching for an explanation and a solution, a physical embodiment of these impressions. Marina began to with classical techniques in Moscow, tried printing and abstraction in Sao Paulo, looked for an answer in Chinese metaphysics and drawing in Shanghai, studied the art theory, and practiced sculpture in England. But on the flat surface of a painting, she lacked volume and deepness, and in sculpture, she was missing a pictorial color.

Marina WitteMann sees (feels) events through volumetric color and in time-space. It is called Synaesthesia. The artist has embodied these sensations in the material. Her color is not flat as in the paintings and not three-dimensional as in sculptures. It is a vibrating color field in which the viewer physically can experience the time through the distance between the beginning of the color and its depth. When one passing by, he can plunge into this pulsating red or blue and become a part of it. Get stuck in the gaps of color, breathe through color, and change with this experience, as this color field alters with the change of light.

This volumetric pictorial color field is an opportunity to perceive events, feelings, and emotions through a complex experience of color, space, and time.

Cold, paint, spray colours, paper on hardboard, 140x80x15 cm, 2021 © Marina Wittemann

INTERVIEW

Could you tell us a little more about your background?

I grew up in Moscow. My family wanted me to get a "proper" education, so I could not study interior design. Instead, I completed my law degree. But I was not too fond of this profession, so I worked in the automotive business for the next ten years. But at one point, I worked so hard that I stopped taking care of my health and was even hospitalized. At that moment, I realized that the "now" is important. Not tomorrow, not when I have status or money, but right now. The day after I was discharged from the hospital, I signed up for a course to prepare for the exams to enter the Art Institute, and shortly after, I quitted my job. After two years of studying classical painting at Moscow State Academic Art Institute, named after V.I. Surikov, my husband and I moved to Brazil. In São Paulo I completed an Exchange Program at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP University). In 2017 we moved to China. In Shanghai, I studied traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy, and metaphysics. Since 2019, I live and work in Germany. Parallel to work, I continue studying at the University for the Creative Arts - Open College of the Arts in England.

What do you wish you knew about contemporary art before you got started?

Nothing. Everything is coming at the right moment. As an art student in Russia, I could not accept conceptual art because I was in some kind of an artistic vacuum. In "free Sao Paulo" I had a breakthrough in consciousness and, at the same time, an artistic shock. What was more important is not clear, but it was a great experience. My Russian vacuum box turned upside down and opened. It seems to me from that moment I have no boundaries in art. Therefore, even what I do not know yet about contemporary art will come at the right moment. But I'm not sure that anything can surprise me.

Homeland (Родина), paint, spray colours, paper on canvas, 145x225x7 cm, 2021 © Marina Wittemann

You have traveled a lot and had many different experiences in your life and career. What is your favorite so far as an artist?

I am excited about a lot of things. I was deeply impressed by the Brazilian free approach to finding your artistic essence. Or another example, I was astonished by Chinese calligraphy and its universal meaning. Here, I fell in love once and for all with the line. Chinese say it is a lifeline with a clear beginning and a beautiful and dramatic end. Through many years of artistic practice, I find not only my own path but also myself. Three months ago, I realized that I had one of the Synaesthesia forms after 36 years of living.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

I am using paper to create three-dimensional artwork. I cover it with paint and then apply it to the support. This allows me to feel the pain directly in my hands. Through this, I can achieve deep, rich, and vivid colour, which is the most important aspect for me. I also pay special attention to the final overall balance of the work and the emotions that the viewer will receive from what they see and experience.

Your work is very rich and tridimensional; how did you come up with this way of creating your works?

I experimented a lot with different materials — wood, metal, plastic, clay, and so on. Once, while experimenting with gypsum (plaster), I had liquid material left, and as you know, it hardens very quickly. In a rush, I took everything that I had at hand. The most exciting result was with paper. Then I just worked it out further. Now I feel like we have found each other. Paper is as a Russian woman. She obeys his master but has her own strong mind. I respect it, and paper allows me to embody my ideas.

What is the most challenging part of your work? And where do you find inspiration?

The most challenging part of my artistic work is getting recognition. I love working in my studio and creating. But especially now, it is very hard to find a good exhibition and get direct feedback from the audience or collectors. At best, you can get a few likes on social media. Therefore, I just gain patience, work every day and try to believe in myself.
I can find inspiration everywhere: I can see an idea in a dream, in a cup of coffee, read in a book, hear something in music, or smell a specific scent that can become a color or final work.

What are your thoughts on digital presentations, like fairs and exhibitions, for artists? Do you think these are good opportunities?

The digital world has become a second home for us. I do not trust it because it is not material, but I love the incredible possibilities of the Internet. Digital presentations, exhibitions, art meetings, and discussions are distinctive features of our time. The artist should take advantage of this and think about the impact of these innovations on the modern visual culture.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

For me, any emotion is material because I often feel its confirmation in the form of color in my body. Such materiality of the emotional state makes me look for form and color for its embodiment. I am looking for a combination in which the viewer could find answers to their questions, cry, find comfort, salvation.

Happiness, paint, spray colours, paper on canvas, 126x82x7 cm, 2021 © Marina Wittemann

Lemon, paint, spray colours, paper on canvas, 106x105x10 cm, 2021 © Marina Wittemann

What do you hope to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life?

I hope that in the end, after one year and seven months, I will see my parents in Moscow. My residence permit expired just amid the lockdown, and all the authorities responsible for the reissue of documents were closed. But I hope that everything will happen very soon.
Professionally, I really hope that I will have the opportunity to exhibit so that viewers can experience my works in person.

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you?

I would like to talk about Synaesthesia. This is a phenomenon in which a person experiences, for example, music, events, numbers, or letters a little differently than other people. So, one can perceive, for instance, music or letters in color. For example, I see halos around people, or for me, any emotional event was always colored with some inner three-dimensional colour in time-space. This inner feeling was the reason why I started to engage in art, and now, it is often the main motive of my work.

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