2022-02-20
First works by MadC
The best programme to contrast with the currently grey February sky is being created right now with coloured glass plates at Studio Derix. In Taunusstein we meet Claudia Walde, aka the artist MadC, at a crucial moment. She has been working intensively on her art for the Reinhard Ernst Museum for a whole year, and now her assignment is to transfer the painted canvases to glass. A truly magical moment and an expression of cooperation based on trust at a world-class level…
MadC produced some drafts at a ratio of 1:2. “In order for the energy of a picture to have its full effect, I also had to revert to a certain size with these canvases”, the artist explains, as she prepared two to three pictures for each work in advance. The team at Derix has to feel this energy and this sensation in order to be able to understand and copy the image. And this is precisely where the magic is.
The collaboration between the well-known artist and the glass specialists, who now have to guide the brush and choose exactly the right colour for her, is informed by great mutual respect. In their preparatory work, the glass designers explore the individual paintings in depth. They examine the paint layer by layer and consider how they can ideally combine these as glass elements to create a complete work. For MadC, this “puzzle” is played out on three glass walls with different structures, one behind the other, which will enable different perspectives when viewed later on. At the same time, it turns the work into a sculpture and allows people even with impaired eyesight to perceive it with their senses.
A particular challenge was posed by the powerful and brilliant colours for which MadC is known. When applied to glass, they look completely different than when they are fired. Studio Derix’s expertise was apparent when the lid of the large kiln was raised and revealed the first glass panel being fired. What had previously been dark purple now came out of the heat as pink. When the professionals lifted the heavy glass plate out of the kiln, all the bystanders held their breath. This was also a goose-bump moment for MadC.
You will be the first to discover in our MRE-News whether we also have to hold our breath when the completed works are installed at the Reinhard Ernst Museum. You can find out more about the work and the museum’s collaboration with MadC here.