Heidemarie Kull and the Art of Observation: What lies beneath
Arhan Virdi
Heidemarie Kull, Prophet with the Two Faces. Courtesy of the artist.
With echoes of Picasso’s contorted figures, Degas’ dappled strokes and a Jungian exploration of The Self, Heidemarie Kull’s latest series illuminates the canvas. Kull explores the complexities of color and metaphors; her imagined figures and mysterious compositions are filtered through a melting pot of artistic and literary influences.
In her latest series, "Humans, Gods and Demons," Kull explores the diversity of human spirituality. With Sphinx, she depicts a creature caught in spiritual limbo–part human, part divine. It is a simple painting, with little activity on the canvas; and yet the cloudy, golden stokes of its background seem to urge the more linear, textured green Sphinx to foreground. The Sphinx is a central symbol of this work, physically and metaphorically. Its wide grin and open eyes encourage the onlooker to gaze longer, to consider the figure. With its Eastern allure–the Sphinx is even wearing a Bindi, a token of respect to Hindu Gods–the painting is immediately attractive and absorbing; it’s initial impact is its dominating strength. Kull captures the archaic and matriarchal distinctions of human kind that this mysterious and mythological creature symbolizes.
As with most artists and poets, Kull indulges some of the fundamental questions of life: birth, death, individualism and spirituality. Prophet with the Two Faces, Kull says, "refers to people who have the gift to look inside themselves." The faces appear Siamese, or part of one whole; one looks at the viewer while the other gazes slightly askance. Perhaps we can interpret the second face in the picture as the one we find after searching for and exploring our "other" self. Kull leaves us wondering: which face represents the "self" we see and which the "self" we find? Once again, Kull uses a pallet of thick golden, yellow and orange colors; strings of green meander through the canvas, quietly defining the Prophets’ facial features. The visual is an powerful, but is difficult to deconstruct and understand. The curious viewer mirrors the grave gazes of the painted figures.
Kull’s appreciation for philosophy and travel has influenced her work not only in terms of conception, but in content. The angular and disfigured faces in her work recall Picasso, the striking colors she uses whisper Dalí and her paint strokes are reminiscent of Degas and Braque. Kull sites these painters as her strongest influences. She cites trips to Kenya, Nepal, China and especially a visit to Potala–the former residence of the Dalai Lama–as imprinting her artistic progression. This appreciation of Eastern spirituality and culture vibrates through her work, as does the sense of other-worldiness, so often symbolized by The East. Kull’s work remains mysterious, but enticing. The observer is encouraged to look harder into each image, so as to fully grasp it; something the second Prophet may well advise.
