Meet West Chicago, IL Artist: Anke Richert-Korioth
Artist Statement: “In my paintings I consider the relationship between abstraction and representation, exploring a fusion of both elements. The content is at once organized and chaotic, digitized and organic. Bold colors meet delicate hues within a picture plane that refuses definite identification.”
Growing up in war-torn Germany, Anke was drawn to the beauty of the German countryside early on. Spending childhood summers at her grandmother’s idyllic home far from a city helped shape her eye for landscapes. And although she showed great prowess in art as a young woman, the need to earn a steady paycheck drove her into the medical field where she worked until her husband’s job brought them to Canada in 1975.
Eventually, his job took them to another locale – the Chicago area – where she was able to study interior design and finally pursue her creative dreams. It was here that she could continue taking art classes and teach in the design field.
As she and her husband traveled the world extensively, she started taking photos wherever they went. Reviewing and savoring those pictures eventually sparked an idea – to use them as a vantage point in her paintings.
“I knew right away that this was my new direction,” she said.
From there, ideas started to take shape endlessly…creating impressionistic paintings by leaving the landscape or theme as her photograph portrayed it or to take the painting into another an entirely different direction.
“I want my work to reflect a moment in time, to tell a story, to give pause for contemplation,” Anke sums up with this reporter from her home-based art studio.
Her award-winning work can be found in many private and corporate collections across the U.S., Europe, and China. And, her paintings can be found in the following galleries: Ross contemporary Gallery in Chicago, IL; Mixed Media Gallery in Douglas, MI; and Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. She can be contacted at: frontdoorstudio@gmail.com
MEMORIES OF TUSCANY -- FALL
EARLY SUMMER MORNING
VIEW OF THE LAKE