Time to Breathe –
An experimental journey with the texts and photographs of Reinhard Karl

Techniques involved: linocut, risography, typewriter
Dimensions: 18x28 cm
Year: 2023

The master's thesis "Time to Breathe" is the result of my artistic and creative exploration of the work of the mountaineer Reinhard Karl. His photographs and texts provided the impulse for a journey on which I entered into a creative dialogue with his living environment. The result is a declaration of love to the art of wood- and linocut, analog photography and the book as a wide-ranging medium of communication. The book as a reliable object which can be experienced with all the senses. The typeface used, Ambiant by Laura Csocsan, is juxtaposed with analog typewriter texts. In this way, I developed associative worlds of thought through the examination of Reinhard Karl's texts, which are conveyed in the book through various design techniques, partly analog. In addition to the sophisticated composition of the text, this diverse use of different materials shapes the reader's impression: Handmade paper, transparent paper, risography and digital printing make the thread-stitched hardcover book with half-linen binding and laser-cut cover made of bookbinder's board an impressive overall experience for the reader.

Big Walls

Technique: Woodcuts
Dimensions: 140x80 cm
Year: 2017

Vertical world of rock climbing

Why do people climb seemingly insurmountable rockfaces, over several days confronted with the height and exposed to the steep walls, though they could reach the summit in ways that are more simple and without risk?

The adventure, a journey into the unknown, that immersion into the vertical world, symbolises freedom and the associated feeling in its most natural form.

The artwork »Big Walls« arose from a fascination for the history of big wall climbing in Yosemite National Park in California. Three woodcuts give an insight into the vertical world and show three essential aspects of climbing, the societal aspect, the dimension and relation between nature and human being and the individual challenge.

Since the 1950´s the big wall climbing in Yosemite Park strongly evolved and brought birth to a whole new era of free climbing which has inspired more than one generations of climbers worldwide. The strong historical black and white photographies by pioneers like Tom Frost and also the visual language of photographer Jimmy Chin inspired me.

The woodcut technique was chosen as the artistic technique because of its numerous parallels to climbing a big wall. This interlinking between topic and technology became very clear during the implementation, for example in the serious consequences of technical errors or the great physical strain. The large format of the three woodcuts, each 80x140 cm, refers to the gigantic intimidating size of the "Big Walls“

                                                 

Technique: linocuts, embossing
Dimensions linocuts: 40x50 cm
Year: 2020, ongoing

Zeit zum Atmen – Reinhard Karl

The climber and photographer Reinhard Karl describes a mountain world, which gives you the unadorned beauty of adventure sports. Through the very authentic narratives of his experiences, but above all the revelation of his emotional world, complemented by expressive and contrasting photographs, a stirring and moving book was created. It is not without reason that "Erlebnis Berg-Zeit zum Atem", published in 1980, is considered one of the classics of mountaineering literature.

I, too, have been captivated by his words and images and taken on a journey. This gave me the impulse to go into an artistic dialogue with his work. The approach is through the traditional process of relief printmaking. Theme and technique enter into a "rope team", which makes the process also for me an exciting adventure, in which the unexpected happens, to which I will react, like Reinhard Karl on the mountain. So far, linocuts and blind embossing have been created, currently I continue to work on this series.

Aguacate



Technique: linocut
Dimensions: 14,8x21 cm
Year: 2021