Uta Feinstein

Artist Statement

My works are concerned with dynamic interactions between fluid, organic nets and grids or other geometric elements. Forces pull in different directions resulting in shifting tensions. Their release or ensuing fragmentation reflect various states of being or a response to current events.

Formal enquiry interplays with the associative potential or metaphorical connotations of the net. The net’s malleability makes it difficult to predict which state it might adopt. It can entrap or protect, save life or destroy it (e.g. the internet). Due to its ambiguity, the net serves as a vehicle to raise questions about uncertainties and contemporary issues, such as the social safety net, interconnectedness, networking and disintegration or isolation.

The dualistic tensions between the organic net and geometry/grid (or the analogue and digital) and their intertwinement raise questions about conflicting human drives and our entanglement with the real and digital worlds’ controlling systems. 

Rupture and dissolution, amplified by sudden spatial and chromatic switches convey a sense of unpredictability, discontinuity and disturbed balance or rhythm. Manipulation of colour, surface, space and structural contrasts also underpin shifting dynamic interactions. 

Areas of calm co-existence or balance suggest the possibility of resolving tensions.

The medium of paint leaves traces of human agency and imperfection, countering elements of hard-edged, impersonal geometry. 

Different from the slow painting process, my drawings with charcoal or chalk evolve over a short period of time and reflect a more spontaneous approach, involving tactile sensation and a direct/subconscious response to life.