From curiosity
to friendship.
Steingletscher Project is an open-ended series of oil paintings. It grows out of my observations of a glacier I have been returning to for years.
In 2020, shortly after we moved to Switzerland, we began exploring the Alps on family hikes. That was when Steingletscher first caught my attention. Partly veiled in cloud, the glacier stood out against the surrounding grey, its blue almost surreal.
On our next free weekend, we went back. This time, the glacier was the reason.
I have been returning ever since. The seasons, the light and the weather change its face. The glacier itself is changing too, and so is the way I see it. Each time, I discover something new.
I look at it from a distance. The world around me does not fall silent, yet a stillness arises within me. The feelings that accompany it are difficult to put into words. I express them through painting.
I do not set out to make a faithful depiction of the entire glacier. I choose fragments that draw my eye and stay in my memory. Working in oils, I return to the softness of monumental masses of ice and to the subtle transitions of light and colour. Sometimes I deliberately guide a painting towards abstraction; sometimes the forms become more ambiguous as I work.
Over time, curiosity grew into friendship. I paint to preserve the memories of our encounters. With each new painting, a portrait takes shape of someone I have been getting to know for years.
Steingletscher was here long before me. For a brief moment, our stories unfold side by side.
I do not know how many more times I will see it as it is today.
