Marlis Albrecht

Marlis Albrecht experimented with many artistic forms of expression and materials until she made her personal discovery of beeswax in 1994, thereafter turning to figurative painting. As of this time she has been working constantly and almost exclusively with this natural product. In concentrating on wax as a flexible medium, the artist has developed a highly sophisticated and unique mixing technique for warm and cold wax that has neither a direct role model nor any parallels with contemporary artists. When it comes to painting using wax, nationally speaking only the artist Martin Assig (Berlin) springs to mind, and internationally only Jasper Johns deserves a mention; yet both these artists also use, or predominantly use, different techniques. Empowered by her long-practised technical know-how, Marlis Albrecht applies her wax painting technique to both delineate precise details as well as to render blurred, vague, and imaginary shapes and images. She layers the melted beeswax, coloured with various pigments, by pouring, brushing, and lovingly applying it with a palette knife onto the painting's wooden or canvas surface.