Interview with Anne-Clara Stahl
November 2020
1. How strong is the influence of your latest work on your new work?
I think my whole work is based on a recurrent theme. All works always have something that connects them. There are general subjects that occupy me as an artist and are therefore in a certain way, part of every work. I paint one painting after the other so that each painting stems from the previous one and continues its way.
In my paintings, however, I am often interested in exposing the process of working to a certain extent. The choice of material, for example, is a very important point in this context. Many of the works arise from drawings. Drawing is a fundamental element in my work. I have a very strong connection to drawing.
2. What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on several projects at the same time. The biggest project at the moment is a series of paintings I am working on for my degree at the art academy. It includes eleven paintings. I have been working on this series since the summer and I am now very intensively involved. This is a stage that I particularly enjoy while I am working. When you are already so deeply involved in a work that it has become a part of your life. The moment you enter the studio feels as if you were coming home. I hope to show this work to the public in January 2021 in Vienna. I am already very much looking forward to that. The place where I work really means a lot to me. Unfortunately, I just had to leave my studio and am now looking for something new. I love to get close to a place, to get to know it, and to build up a very special relationship with space through my own work.
3. Do you listen to music while working?
It always depends on what mood I am in at the moment. Music always influences me very quickly and very strongly. I actually prefer listening to spoken texts while working. That can be an interesting feature, a podcast, or even a kind of audiobook. Language is a medium that always inspires me a lot in my work and is like music to me.
4. Which artists (or other people) are you inspired by?
Of course there are great artists who inspire me, but I find it almost boring to call them again and again. Most of all, I am inspired by the people with whom I surround myself. These are mostly not yet known artists who are just going their own way. Their individuality and their unique ways inspire me. However, it is often not necessarily artists who inspire me. People in general are a great source of inspiration. Their attitudes, their longings, their unspoken words. Their existence, their fears and desires are my source of work.
5. What is your favourite place to see art?
Other artists' studios are in my opinion the most authentic places to see art. I like to visit other artists in their studios and talk there - about their work but also about so many other things that are going on. It gives you a completely different contact and access to the people and their work.
6 What is the best part of being an artist?
Making art.
7. Are there any ongoing projects or upcoming (online) exhibitions where we can see your work?
Many of my works have recently been shown in the ArtApart Gallery (www.art-apart.gallery) I like the concept of this gallery because it specializes mainly in former students of art academies. ArtApart works online and that's where I currently see new visions and potential. I am happy to be part of it. Especially in these difficult times I want to be open for new and emerging concepts and ideas.
There are other exhibitions for the coming year, but they are not quite ready yet and it is not clear whether they can take place. I always spread news very quickly on my Instagram channel and on my website www.anneclarastahl.de.