Irma Sitter - HIGH

Irma Sitter's painting begins in her head. Inspired by landscapes, memories, odours, or thoughts, she composes a picture and ushers it into the light of day as a sketch on canvas. Then instead of conducting the painting process dogmatically, she allows herself to be guided by the colours. She paints on the floor with a rich array of colours and an abundance of water, using the brush as a guidepost and a baton, under which the work grows as if organically. Multiple layers of paint, applied with a glaze, are superimposed, become blurred and intertwined. Thus a single glance often reveals an entire process, the whole development of a picture. As much as Irma Sitter defers to the will of her motifs, they are able to create hermetic, coherent systems, compositions replete with inherent references, free of the obligation to remain unambiguous. What one sees in them is what one draws out of them. It is this reciprocal freedom between picture and viewer, it is the wide range of possibilities that conveys a delightful, hovering sensation. High. And therein lies the power of these works.