First piece of my upcoming Indonesia series, in which I reflect on the time I spent there, meditating, focusing on inner work and growth of the soul. In this series I use organic materials and techniques, in addition to my usual acrylic colours, which remind me of the places and feelings that I associate with Indonesia. 

Salt in my hair commemorates the feeling of salty ocean water, which felt present everywhere. I chose to use ink, water and salt for this piece. This creates little crystals of salt on the canvas.

Salt In My Hair

This painting has significant spiritual value to me. It closes the “Breakup series” and is about my feelings of healing all hurt and my heart lightning up again.

Rebirth

A piece I’ve painted while entering a new chapter in my life, it represents the transformation of the soul, a dance of life, a feeling of awakening. It is part of my “Breakup series”.

It’s the first that I have started and finished 
at my studio at Gabriel Loci, Prague. 

Joy of Life

I started Ice Cream Mochi as an act of approval of my expression towards myself. I’ve allowed myself to paint on my biggest canvas yet. It represents my desire for large-scale installations to create immersive visual experiences and it captures my joy and feeling of complete freedom.

It is the first piece of the Desserts collection, which is a collection of emotional snapshots springing from spontaneous need for an artistic expression, through which I’m able to connect with my emotions.

I started and finished this whole series at home in my kitchen, where I had sort of a studio before moving to Gabriel Loci. That's probably one of the reasons why I got the idea of creating a collection of my favourite desserts! They capture exciting and positive feelings. But it is also a reference to my struggle with an eating disorder, from a time when I used to eat so little my weight dropped to 44kg (that's very low for my height), and thanks to these desserts I learned to get a healthy taste for food back. Each piece is representing a joyful, positive feeling that I link to these desserts. I chose fun, bright colours, to show the positive nature of these feelings, and the strength I feel looking at them and looking back at how I made it through my struggle.

Ice Cream Mochi

Espresso Brownie is part of my Desserts collection. It captures my joy and feeling of complete freedom, and my desire to work on large‑scale installations and immersive visual experiences. It is also one of my absolute favourite desserts, and I love coffee, this dessert is pure genius to me!

The Desserts collection is a collection of emotional snapshots springing from spontaneous need for an artistic expression, through which I’m able to connect with my emotions.

I started and finished this whole series at home in my kitchen, where I had sort of a studio before moving to Gabriel Loci. That's probably one of the reasons why I got the idea of creating a collection of my favourite desserts! They capture exciting and positive feelings. But it is also a reference to my struggle with an eating disorder, from a time when I used to eat so little my weight dropped to 44kg (that's very low for my height), and thanks to these desserts I learned to get a healthy taste for food back. Each piece is representing a joyful, positive feeling that I link to these desserts. I chose fun, bright colours, to show the positive nature of these feelings, and the strength I feel looking at them and looking back at how I made it through my struggle.

Espresso Brownie

My raw expression of rising from chaos and pain into 
a newfound maturity and light. 

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This piece is packed with emotions. It started with an urge to express myself and cutting up bed sheets, because I had no canvas around and all the shops were closed. (This was during lockdown.) 

I felt like there was a fire inside me, that was cleansing in a way. I felt old feelings and issues wither away, as I was meditating to awaken my soul to new maturity and light. I had just recently moved out of a very uncomfortable place in my life, and was also freshly moved in an apartment where I live now alone. It felt like freedom, physically and mentally, spiritually.

There is a face in the top left corner, which represents the death of the old self. Almost looks like the soul crying for the suffering it allowed to happen to itself.

The Phoenix itself can be seen as either at the moment right before burning up or just after rebirth. It's looking at the viewer with confidence in the process it's going through.

Phoenix

My longest work in progress that took me 
over 6 years to consider finished. 

It documents my path from a place 
of being lost, longing for spiritual safety, 
to moments before awakening, self-realisation.

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This piece is very special to me and has a deep strength embedded in itself. I started it just after I got out of treatment in a psychiatric hospital, where I spent about 4 months after a suicide attempt. I felt a very pure and raw feeling of new found freedom, I started seeing my life as something I have control over, I felt I could finally do things I never made time for. It was like I found a new life, I started working on myself, my inner peace and mental health. And one thing I was very strongly drawn to was art. I studied Toy Design at art school and always enjoyed a creative outlet, but I longed for a visual mark where I could freely express my authentic self.

So I grabbed some old wood I found in the garage and cut up my bed sheets (literally the one's I was sleeping on), and knocked a frame together. I had a lot of diaries and sketchbooks from the hospital, and plenty of ideas of what I wanted to put on canvas, but I just went with my feelings, no plans, no self‑judgment, I totally let go.

It was liberating, I kept adding and repainting this piece over the course of 5‑6 years, it's like it grew with me.

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Elisabeth Bauer