Evi Vingerling’s senses are ever-vigilant: whether strolling through the park, witnessing the soft orange hue emanating from a dark building in the early morning’s blue light, being surprised by shining lights among the blackened silhouette of trees in a foreign city, or gazing at the shadows of nature’s alpine formations from an airplane window. Even the distorted reality brought forth by the rippling and dazzling lights of moving water does not escape her attention. It is often the interplay of colors that captivates her. These wondrous observations all find their way back to her studio, inspiring Evi Vingerling to share these everyday instances of beauty with the world.
Throughout the history of aesthetics – from Aristotle to Rancière – there has been a prevailing belief that the individual and the universal intersect in art. However, Vingerling’s experiences are marked by a profound understanding that she is indeed an individual, but one that is intricately woven into the same world that encompasses us all. Essentially, we are all fragments of the here and now. For Evi Vingerling, this realization serves as an invitation to vividly capture her unique experiences. Her work is not driven by theories, but rather by unconventional motifs found in the raw immediacy of life. Opting to portray feelings of joy and possessing a gift of openness have been key elements in her artistic evolution.
A new aspect of recent works is that they have emerged organically on the canvas. In the past, she would record her experiences in notes or use photographs and drawings as reference. However, in her more recent works, these drawings serve as a starting point in a less literal sense, where she makes necessary decisions throughout the painting process. Vingerling relies on intuition, mirroring the approach of early American modernists and artists like Ad Reinhardt. Her work embodies a belief in the liveliness of our reality, drawing inspiration from her surroundings, as well as literature and theoretical texts.
Vingerling’s paintings exude a sense of fluidity and lightness, in contrast to the physical demands of her process that require intense mental focus. Time and time again, she starts from a single moment in everyday reality, driven by a longing for the greater whole. To capture this desire, she carefully prepares, using photographs or series of drawings as references, before diving into the canvas. The act of painting teeters on the edge, with a brush just full enough to prevent drips. This leaves little room for error, but the fluidity of the process allows for experimentation. The resulting technique remains transparent and comprehensible, creating an immediate connection with the viewer. It is through this openness that the images take on new meaning.
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