BFA
THESIS EXHIBITION
MALENA STRAUCH
In my most recent body of work, I explore how shifts in formal elements affect my landscape paintings. I am curious to see if these influence our perception of nature and how my work process can impact the viewing experience.
My own experiences in nature drive me to make art and can be found in any of my work. Besides plants, mountains, and water, there are also often indications of human presence in the form of pathways, fountains, and architecture. In the series I am working on at the moment, I am very drawn towards tropical rainforest landscapes, including a variety of plants and water sources. For me, there is a unique liveliness in the richness of the greens, combined with the calm sensation of water. My references mostly come from photos, books, and personal travel photographs. I like to collage many different images into one large one and break it up into different fractions using variation in color, saturation, or shape. The fracturing leaves a lot of room for experimentation and allows different feelings of time, moment, and change. I enjoy working on large canvases, mostly using Acrylic paint. Big pieces of canvas offer a freedom of composition which helps me to structure the overall image. They also offer a very welcoming pictorial space and engages the viewer in a different way.
Continuous changes is a theme I have noticed particularly in nature. A moment we spend in nature, surrounded by beautiful landscapes can seem like the capture of a still, never changing frame, but really is a dynamic moment full of ongoing changes. I am curious to experiment with those ideas in my landscape paintings and test changes in formal elements that might speed up or slow down the perception of this moment. I am interested in exploring how the landscape imagery might evoke personal memories or engage viewers in the present. Likewise, how changes to my studio process affect the perception of change in the final product. I like to reflect upon how the footprints of my awareness shape the path of the viewers’ attention.
Malena Strauch (b. 2001 in Rosenheim, Germany) is a visual artist currently residing in Fairfield Iowa. Her creative process reflects her curiosity about different viewpoints on life and nature. In her work, Strauch explores the relationship between shifts in formal elements and the perception of nature.
From 2019 to 2021, Strauch directed and executed several art workshops in Munich, Germany. She has work in several private collections and has done printed and digital commissions for private and commercial venues. She has been Co-President of the “Sessions of Knowledge” university club at MIU since 2021.
Strauch’s upcoming BFA Thesis show will be on view at the Wege Gallery at MIU, where she will receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in the spring of 2024.