Johanna Bath, a German artist, has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States. Fascinated by people and their relationship with time, she conveys the ‘bittersweet transiency and impossibility of preserving moments’ in her paintings. Bath’s artistic approach is both intuitive and impulse controlled, as well as traditional and resolutely modern. She creates using oils, acrylics, and spray paint on canvas.
Self-taught or art school?
I went to art school (University of Applied Science, Hamburg, Germany) but didn’t study fine art but illustration design. Looking back it was the best training I could wish for as it offered such a good foundation of classical artistic training such as (live) drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and art history. It also offered such freedom to explore. I would go back and do it again any time, I loved it.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Pwww, this is a tough one. The first artwork that really stuck with me and that I always return to is „On the balcony“ by Peter Blake. I love the lush dark green and the whimsical collage qualities about it.
How would you describe your style?
My work feels like a collage that is fueled by memory, colours and shapes and those inspirational elements that trigger this deeply felt urge to be painted. Rather than just reproducing something with paint that already exists I like to create „rooms“ on the canvas where I improvise, leave sections rough and unperfected and combine contradictory elements that all melt together to a different experience. Whenever I start with a new painting I have no particular image in mind of how it is going to look. I just want to play and have fun and dive deep into this magical world of making something.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
My practice depends heavily on my mood. Sometimes I am more drawn to doing large pieces where I start with an expressive layer of abstract painting underneath, where it is all about the movement and getting lost in gestures and paint. I then add different layers, just like doing a collage. I don’t plan, I just paint – when it doesn’t work, I paint over it or wipe it away. I basically react to every brushstroke and feel my way through the process. Not actively „thinking“ about it helps.
And other times I prefer a small canvas, where the space is limited and I focus more on the details and highlight a specific feature such as a face or a hand or a botanic detail. And most importantly I try not to set boundaries to myself and always go with the gut feeling. If I have a phase where I exclusively want to paint this or that, I will do that – even if that doesn’t match my „usual style“. I try to stay open as much as possible.
Is narrative important within your work?
As I come from illustration I guess I am always interested in transporting some kind of story, so I would say: yes. I also think that it is a very common human reaction to create a story around a piece of art when looking at it. When starting out years ago I was very unsure and anxious about what to paint. When doing figurative work, it is always directly linked to the biography of the artist and I felt quite uncomfortable exposing myself and my thoughts in that way. It felt like a creative block. It took me some years to reach this level of comfort and confidence. Nowadays I just go with my gut and paint whatever finds its way onto the canvas. Its quite interesting to look at my work in retrospective and see all the subjects I dealt with unconsciously at the time.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Franz Hals and Caravaggio for painting faces, shadows and human skin so beautifully, Max Beckmann, Manet and Felix Vallotton for shapes and colour, Bacon for his bold and raw beauty, Neo Rauch for making nightmares look so fascinating, Gerhard Richter for his diversity, Peter Doig for his layering and his ability to capture the human condition so poetically, Michaël Borremans for his ability to combine tradition and presence effortlessly, Paula Modersohn-Becker for her courage, Hilma Af Klint for a delicate graphic style,… the list is endless.
What or who inspires your art?
Nature, anything design related (fashion, interior design, architecture), books, art.
Where is your studio and what’s it like?
I am very fortunate to have two studios: One is a 10 min drive away and is the typical industrial style/ high ceiling place, where I host workshops, where I can get messy (sometimes I experiment with ceramics) and use it as a storage place. I share it with a photographer so it’s affordable. My main studio is in my home – it is the biggest room in the flat and its where I spend most of my time. I like that I can just go there and paint whenever inspiration hits. I also love that my work corresponds to the environment of an actual apartment. I do want to create art that is approachable, that brings life to a home and is an object that should be valued as something that brings joy to the collector every day. So I occasionally ‚test‘ hang paintings and see how they perform outside of the studio.
Do you have any studio rituals?
Morning coffee – dog walk – mails – work. When nothing really works on canvas, I’ll go ahead and organize the studio or do something meditative such as stretching canvases or flipping through magazines to get me going.
What are you working on currently?
I just did a bunch of new pieces for the first-ever virtual edition of TheOtherArtFair, which I attended in real life in Brooklyn 2019. In those pieces, I focused on monochromatic floral elements, which still got me hooked.
Where can we buy your art?
You can get my art on SaatchiArt or Singulart. And you can follow me on Instagram @fraeulein_bath, where I regularly offer smaller pieces and editions.
