The strong and vibrant colors are the first thing you notice. The work of Priska Leutenegger glows, as if radiating an inner light. At closer look, structures and traces become visible. Lines, furrows and ridges emerge, invoking landscapes, tree bark and cliffs.

The similarities are completely intentional. The structures are created through a natural process. For the artist it is always an exciting moment when new forms appear to emerge from the depths of the image. It is as if parts of her true self were revealed.
 
"Through this technique I have found the ideal mode for expressing myself and my soul," says the artist. She was born in 1975 in Uster in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. She began drawing with charcoal in 2000 while still working in the business world, after which she began a correspondence course at the Zurich Art School. Five years later Priska Leutenegger became an independent, full-time artist so that she could devote herself entirely to painting: "I can finally completely concentrate on developing my own style." And successfully, as it soon became apparent.

"I was looking for a form of expression that moved me," says Priska Leutenegger about her artistic motivation. Soon she was no longer satisfied with conventional acrylic and oil painting techniques, which she felt were not expressive enough for her interests. Finally, in 2009, she created her first series of images with marble dust, followed by works on wood with luminous colors, which quickly found their way into several exhibitions. Priska Leutenegger calls the series "Emerging From Depth". She compares these first new works to rising up from the dark depths of an ocean.

Since then she has created other series based on specific themes, such as "Walks Outside". While this series is rather cheerful in expression, the black background in the works in "Emerging From Depth" lend them an almost magical deepness. Priska Leutenegger also now uses photography as the perfect complement to her painting. With the camera, she gets close to her works, dives into their structure, practically lets herself go "on a search for the soul of the image."

In fact, the photographs reveal new, surprising perspectives, landscapes and shapes, the effect and impressions of which the artist sometimes digitally enhances. The photographic works delve completely into the original images, seeking to fathom their true core. "I no longer have any patience for any superficiality in my art," says Priska Leutenegger about her artistic aspirations. Through her photographic work, the artist has found a way to further enhance the traces her artwork explores and render them even more visible to the viewer.

 
March 2010