The Series “Roots and Fruits”
In the selected works from the cycle “Roots and Fruits” the themes of fertility, motherhood and mother-child relationship are rendered clearly visible by the representational style.
Besides the ostensible themes such as "bearing fruit", "delivering a child”, "giving life" and as a parent “being bestowed” by an own child, some paintings in the series also deal with the psychological process of "emptying". From an initial hidden emotional connection, the act of giving birth leads to separation, release, an external "appearance" and “perception” of the child and then, if all turns out well, to a new internal bond. Experiencing the development from "becoming a mother” to “being a mother”, from “virgin motherhood” to being a "fully-fledged woman in motherhood", inevitably leads to the search for the inner "fruit" in our own hidden "hortus conclusus" that lies in the sweetness of security and love and that should be woven into the new bond with the child. This process begins with the search for the fruits of security and of love, which we ourselves should have experienced as newborn babies or infants. This search in turn presupposes a confrontation with our own family and the perception of bonds that allow us to sense whether we carry sufficient fruits and gifts within ourselves that we can in turn hand on to our offspring. The new maternal role can sometimes help delicate or unripe fruit to ripen on a daily basis.
The fruits depicted in the works are symbolic of the "fruits of security and love" and their ripening. On the one hand the motif of anthropomorphic female sculptures1 which appears in three of the works presented here is a symbol of the female principle which is in harmony with nature and which resembles the divine, regenerative cycle. It is also a symbol of fertility, of the meaning of life and of love. On the other hand it is a symbol of the origin of each of us, of our connection to our own history and heritage, in addition to being a reference to the country of origin and the "provenance" of the artist.
The examination of our own family and our perceptions of these old relationships can sometimes be triggered by old photos. Our present perception of times past can allow us to reinterpret them. In the artistic realisation through painting and drawing, feelings and states of tenderness and childlike happiness are revealed, but by taking the perspective of the child, states of unintentional distance, misunderstanding, sadness and helplessness are evoked. On one of these paintings the not uncommon ambivalence of the mother-child-relationship is represented by a bluish-cool atmosphere, conveying the feelings of the protagonists that are rendered in different ways, thus underlining their physical distance.
The series “Roots and Fruits” comprises 10 paintings on canvas (in oil and oil pastel) of different formats, as well as 12 smaller images in mixed media on paper. A further 2 oil paintings stand in close relationship to the theme of the series.
Translation: Nico Benadie
