Dorothee Kolle

My current art practice is characterized by the search to express movement, lightness, transparency and colour through a process of destruction and reconstruction or creation, going beyond the traditional painting support and incorporating different materials.

I play with different elements such as the given form of boxes, paper, string, plastic in various forms, found and recycled materials and residues of previous artistic work. In combining and arranging these I hope to challenge preconceptions of what we mean by our environment; what are its effects and material formation. The work is a constant juggling between flexibility, openness, control and boundaries and I think these are important elements in individual and social relationships as well.

Although I often have my own personal associations with various materials, shapes, colours or specific arrangements, I want to leave it open to the viewer to discover the pieces as a visual experience, draw their own conclusions or fill it with meaning.

My latest work combines cellophane, PVC and clear Polycarbonate in connection with my search for lightness and transparency. Polycarbonates are a particular group of thermoplastics. They are polymers having functional groups linked together by carbonate groups (-O-CO-O-) in a long molecular chain. Because of its specific characteristics (lightness, transparency, light transmission, easy bending and moulding without breaking) polycarbonate is widely used in modern industries. Some of the products are windows, lenses, DVD’s, food storage, plastic bottles, gas and water supply systems, cars and medical protheses. The dependency on oil in the production of this material raises environmental issues concerning not only waste, sustainability and recycling of this material but also how it forms such an increasing part of our everyday surroundings through architecture, furniture, computers, cars etc etc. and so re-defines what we mean by a landscape.