Interview with Marita Tobner: Exploring Abstract and Representational Elements

German mixed-media artist Marita Tobner responds to an ever-fragmented world by assembling and layering disparate materials, graphic images, and vibrant colours. Her dynamic mixed-media works are condensed stories of modern life and backdrops to a heightened sensory perception of reality.

How would you describe your artistic style?

My way of working includes both abstract and representational elements. The exploration and interaction of both poles fascinates me equally and contains a diversity that is elementary for me.

At the beginning there is the word, i.e. the title of the picture. He names a life theme that I want to work on. Only after that does the work on the canvas begin. In the beginning, the pictures are usually created as non-representational paintings with acrylic and oil paints.  Collage elements, newspaper snippets, my own stamp printing, cutting patterns, textile material, maps, etc. are quickly integrated into the non-representational, colourfully expressive parts of the picture. This also creates graphic structures again and again, which I supplement with my own structural elements. They form a kind of opponent to the pure colour composition.

I complement this mixture of abstract-expressionist painting and collage technique with very direct and objective, large-format high-pressure prints. Sometimes they come from the wood panel, but mostly I prefer the linocut technique.

Each of these work phases is characterised by rather cautious, tentative further work and further searching, so it does not take place within a master plan. In this process I experience feedback again and again and slowly, if necessary also in a roundabout way, approach the final design.

What messages or themes do you want to communicate with your work?

Colour and form are carriers of meaning right from the start thanks to the title.

My experience, my perception of the world in all its facets, including the media, is the central source of inspiration for me.

The reality of life of one half of humanity, the women, always plays an important role in my work, it is my "overarching theme".

Politically socialised in the 1980s, I was in the women's movement and still feels closely connected to it today. My pictures are very often about women in difficult life situations, whether short-term (separation) or long-term (homelessness, precarious living conditions).

How has your practice evolved over the years? Have you always worked in an abstract style?

Abstraction develops from representationalism, I've always worked on two tracks and paid attention to diversity in my work.

What’s an average day like in your studio?

I always work in series and on several works at the same time. The individual work steps allow you to pause and reflect on the next steps.

What/Who are your key influences?

Life as a woman offers a wide range of experiences that are worth showing. Beautiful and ugly alike, they caught each other.

Are you currently working on any exciting new projects?

The work "the scales of life" is the leitmotif of the series that is currently being created.  How do we keep everything in balance? Balancing is part of everyday feminine life.