Just the way I feel

“Just The Way I feel”, Pastel on paper, 67cm × 96.5 cm: I worked on this piece at the end of 2022, after 6 months of having moved to a temporary place in France, with all our belongings still in Germany. We were living between the two countries and settling in in France was anything but easy. I didn’t have any studio space during the time and taped this huge sheet of paper on the wall of our tiny kitchen which was literally only 1m wide.
This sheet of paper became the imprint of all sorts of emotions I went through during those months. Depending on how I felt, I worked either on one or the other side of the painting, in a way which echoed the emotions, - from a meditative way reflecting the utter bliss while immersed in the sea to throwing and crashing pastels sticks against the wall when I felt angry having to move again, isolated and lost in a new country, without any friends, unable to properly communicate.
Working on this piece was very different from how I usually work. I’d normally carry on for hours on end (until I almost collapse). This time, I’d painted as long as a particular emotion lasted. Then stepped back. Until I felt another emotional surge. In other words, in waves.