‘A picture must be sound and imbued with an inner glow.’
Wassily Kandinsky, Russian painter, 1866–1944
‘During my schooldays, I discovered the love of art. Colors, color compositions and beauty have always fascinated me. Through my studies as a graduate engineer in textile and design, I received a comprehensive artistic education. From drawn nature study to photography and nude and portrait painting, I learned to work with sound craftsmanship and to express the quality of my own personal image development and interpretation. Like many artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, I have turned from figurative painting to the collage of abstraction. I am inspired by traveling. The memories of the colors of a country, its nature, the light and shadow constellations guide me in my painting.
The color serves as an expression, partly in expressive colors. I am concerned with the substance of color. I concentrate on the essentials, neglect the representational and reduce to color and form. Color contrasts, composition, lines and surfaces, surface textures and textures serve as design elements. Layers are applied with brush and spatula, oil pastels, pencil or pigments are also used. Color spaces remain open and bring the image viewer into the depths of the image.
The human brain searches for known concepts to give a name for what they see. Sometimes it is the titles of the pictures that give a first stimulus to the pictorial statements that I have prepared. The viewer should enter into dialogue with my pictures, create their own thoughts in order to let them flow into their own ideas. They can dive into the color worlds of my pictures, go on a journey of discovery and let their imagination run free.
I see my painting as a contrast to the fast-paced, digitalized time and the disregard of the environment. It is a statement of my understanding and concern for us all to develop more responsibility and respect for the world around us and to rediscover the importance of the sustainable protection of nature.’
Sonja Kalb, 2018
Born in Stuttgart
Studied textile and design (Diplom-Ingenieurin)
Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany
Lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts Kolbermoor, Germany