Water and cloudscapes, realistic and yet abstract

Water as the basis of all life is the theme that Ulrike Schmelter deals with in many ways. Water runs like a common thread through her artistic work, on the one hand abstract, deep and irrepressible in its original form, on the other hand as a landscape or - in a different aggregate state - as clouds.

The artist Schmelter developed a special technique for depicting water in an abstract way. In contrast to her landscapes and skies she paints these works with a spatula. There is no brushstroke to be seen here - the spatula paints and draws the traces of the steadily moving water. The many successive layers of paint create an impression of depth and three-dimensionality of the wet element.

Why did Schmelter turn to the subject water? It is her respect for this precious element, both life-giving and destructive at the same time. She prefers to spend time by the water rather than in it, studying it for hours on end and capturing it in my mind. It is her memories and emotions that she later translates onto canvas in my studio.

Schmelters works are therefore not based on photographs. They are not realistic depictions of concrete moments, but rather the capture of moods, the fascination of the moment.

Ulrike Schmelter lives and works in Berlin and Denia (Valencia)

2013-2018 Studied painting at the Akademie für Malerei, Berlin
2018 Completion of studies, appointed master student of Ute Wöllmann
2019 Foundation of the female artist group K11, member since then
Member of KunstHaus Potsdam
Member of GEDOK Berlin
Member of BBK Berlin