In her Culture Mix series Tanja Hirschfeld deals with the origin, meaning and misinterpretation of masks, costumes and body ornaments. Main characters are mostly women whose appearance combines familiar and foreign.

The fascinating splendor initially distracts from the rigidity of the costumes: the figures are in corsets, wearing tight ruffs, awkward headgear, crushing cloaks. But none of the protagonists seems helpless - on the contrary. The works convey the feeling that each of the characters has an unpredictable power.

Tanja Hirschfeld, born 1971 in Rome, studied at the Munich College of Communication Design and worked as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. Since 2014 she is an artist in Munich. Her large-format oil paintings in glaze technique as well as her drawings and monotypes were shown in Los Angeles, Spain and Germany.

In 2015, for the first time, I expanded my artistic repertoire with watercolors. The result is the picture series A. O. T. (Watercolor Untitled) with weightless acting color bodies on photo paper. The main inspiration for this were photographs of jellyfish floating in the sea. The significant role in the works is taken by the color bodies, which vary in shape, proportion and color.

At first glance, they look bizarre and alien to their observers, but reveal closer details when looked at more closely. The ambivalence thus created questions common views and makes watercolor painting a whole new way of experiencing.

Particular attention is paid to the intrinsic value of the color and its iconic properties. Due to the surface texture of the photo paper, influence on the material properties as well as different techniques for the application of paint, both gentle color gradients and sedimentary areas are created. Static color densities and dynamic regions interact with each other and create tension in the image.

The high-gloss photo paper, in interaction with the painted objects, generates a deep, empty and transcendent space. In addition, the absence of landmarks reinforces the impression of weightlessness and the metaphysical presence of painting.