Single women or children often stand at the centre of images
by Cornelia Schleime, seemingly attached to the natural
surroundings by their hair, limbs or clothing. They appear lost in
reverie while still present, vulnerable yet strong. In the painting
these motifs need to assert themselves in rough, unusual materials
such as shellac and asphalt paint. The canvas is sealed,
holding such creatures and their ambivalence between delicacy
and coarseness captive within.
In East Berlin, Schleime belonged to the legendary “Bohème” of
artists from Prenzlauer Berg. In 1984 she moved to West-Berlin;
later she discovered from GDR state security (Stasi) files that
her best friend had been spying on her for many years. The artist’s
fields of expression include drawing, painting, performance
and literature, and she sees no difference between life and art,
art and love, the artist and her oeuvre. Travelling and working in
Indonesia, Brazil, and Hawaii she explored the world – but she
has remained true in her art to the magic of German fairy-tales
and myths.