Interview about the new series “Flower Power Beijing” 12/2018

Questions and answers about the artistic creation of Charlotte Eschenlohr

 

Artist Background

What is your background as a person, rather than as an artist?
My background is an elite education with a phd in economics. I always wanted to study economics and work in the financial sector. How to make money was a main interest of mine.

Are there any family or social influences that led you to becoming an artist?
There are no artists in my family. My father inherited a porcelain factory and studied porcelain, which is a profession related to art. I also grew up in a house full of chinese art, which was a mysterious world for a child. For sure it was a main influence on me and strongly contributed to my fantasy world and love for the magic of art.

What are your previous life experiences, especially those concerning your relationship to art?
In regards to art, I loved to make eat art invitations for dinner parties with friends in order to create a playful art happening. I have reinterpreted my private eat art concept into a performance and installation. The table was my skirt and I called it Living Table. It was my first piece of art to be shown to the public. It came out very successful and was the highlight of the exhibition. After this performance I decided to become an artist.

What was the first piece of artwork that you have seen in your life?
The first piece of art I remember is probably a Chinese art work hanging on the wall in my childhood bedroom over my bed. It was light orange with children dancing in a circle, easy, happy.

Identity

What is your self identity? How does this identity influence your artistic creation?
My distinctive identity is: I am all feminine. Role orientation gives the structure. A dream sequence melting into a galaxy of flowers. Rose Hill. Amor and Psyche. The artwork is inspired by Instagram speak, underlining the overload of visual information.

How do you catagorize yourself?
As an artist or a feminist or both? I am a female artist and I am a feminist at the same time. Role identity and sensitivity go together. Beauty is an internal goal. My artwork is very much focused on flowers. FlowerPower is the title of my new series.

How do you define this world?
This world is exciting, fascinating, in-stable and interesting, sexy, deeply emotional and dangerous. The plot is full of exciting turns, the right demand to create artwork on a high level. The magic of life and art is semitransparent in the Parallel.

What do you think of this as a question? Do you think your collectors appreciate your artworks or do they value you more as an artist?
Both at the same time. The collectors appreciate me and my artwork which gives me a strong support to create. This stable energy pushes me from the beginning on to make art in my own way. Unique. Clear face. Exciting.

If you can, can you describe yourself with one single word?
Trust.

Inspiration & motivation

What is your motivation to make art? Is there any specific event or story that led you on this path?
Art is like eating and drinking. Art is basic and elementary. Without art there is no sense, no understanding of the diversity. It’s a way to overcome the narrow perspective of everyday subjects. To change the perspective and discover the bigger context. Art is liberating and looks into the future.

What is your inspiration while you create your own art style?
The inspiration to create is the reflection upon feminism and my own position to this subject. Femininity and sexuality are the key points. Power, strength and seduction as repetitive subjects in the advertisement world which form the role of women in our time. All these inspirations and ideas are a reflection about the meaning of femininity, beauty and passion in contemporary art.

Are there any particular artists that influenced you when you first began to make your art?
The main influence is Picasso. Till today I admire his style , his versitality, his everyday work rhythm, the immense range and size of his work. His consequence made his work so strong and unique. All is Art. He has subordinated everything to his Art. From woman artists, I am influenced by the American painter Georgia O’Keeffe and the German dancer Pina Bausch. My last 2 series FlowerPower and ThenewNew are influenced from both of these artists.

As we know, the artist is someone that uses artwork as their presentation to speak about their own philosophy about this world; hence, do you believe in any particular philosophy genre? And is there any philosopher or thesis that inspires and impacts your artistic creation?
The philosophical aspects of my artwork is influenced from the culture exchange I live in. During the last several years I was very focused on China. My visual knowledge of the old culture and the modernism is a reflection on the eternal subjects of human beings and the interpretation of our time. In 2016 I exhibited my solo show “Call the Now” in Beijing. The idea of eternity is the spiritual dimension of the Buddhist idea: focus on the moment. Call the now.

Art Genre and Presentation

What kind of genre defines your own artworks and why?
My genres. I am playing with moving aspects because I live and work in a moving context. Creating artwork in Europe and China change the perspective and the input to the subject. So movies, especially movies describing art, are a main interest. They take part in my performance art and find their expressions in my paintings. Moving pictures, like in a kaleidoscope, bring out new visions. There are many factors and elements that you engage in your works. It seems like you are a maxmedium artist, can you describe why you like to engage with so many elements in your creation? I am a max-medium artist because I love to play with the many possibilities creating contemporary art. My collage is an ideal style to combine painting, drawings, photos and computer works. These are the tools to handle the over load of information in our time and find the extract. I take in like a sponge and then find the headline. This is a very exciting and adventures way to set questions and find answers. At the end there is always a surprise for me.

In particular, I see you like collage in your work, so why choose this specific presentation?
Collage is also a thinking in patterns. The many aspects , the interpretations of what you see, what is important are changing. Like layers which are disappearing, coming up again, find new ideas, a new sense, other meanings. These cards are always put together in another way. The play is endless and full of surprises.

Most of your works are large scale, and why do you want to do that? Why are my paintings so big?
From the painting process it is a free and generous feeling to work in a big space and to create limitlessly. No narrow minded feelings. No narrowness in the thoughts and in the space during the creative process. There is a correlation between the body feeling and what is on the canvas at the end. I love the free flow which is going hand in hand with a bigger size.

Do you believe your works speak about your Germany perspective more than Chinese fact and why?
I am German. And where ever I go, I look into the scenery with my German eyes. The cultural background you are born in cannot be totally changed. Even with this deep cultural exchange I share with China. But my position is special, because I am influenced from Chinese culture since childhood. It is the main reason that I am so attracted to China and focused my art on it, that I did so much artwork in China and exhibited so often there. The positive feedback shows me that I have not only a look from the western culture inside Asia, but also a deeper understanding and some people say I have Chinese eyes. In this way the cultural exchange is indeed changing my positions, my thinking and my artwork.

In what kind of place or with which collector would you most like to expose your artworks?
My artwork goes to the people who love art and have a special understanding of my style and how I express my figurative way. You call it Neo Expressionism. Very colorful and energetic. So big spaces are suitable to exhibit my artwork. My collectors have the place to show my artwork in big environments. In their collections, in their private buildings, in their business centers. My galleries also work in bigger formats. And when my artwork is showed in Museums places everybody is happy because these places always guarantee a good presentation.