Lena Schmidt's Work Series »Power Lines«: Interwoven Tipping Moments
The »Power Lines« are not specifically tied to locations: they are showing overland power lines intersections, the carriers of energy and information of urban life. Storms regularly show how fragile these »energy lines« are, which work like a nervous system. Lena Schmidt's »Power Lines« are applied to discarded wood with a marker and acrylic paint in which the artist then carves and scratches the light giving it a »body«. The works get their clear object character from their strong materiality by using the left behind products of industrial wastelands: pillars, ply wood and poles. The consequences of the decomposition process, be it corrosion or weathering, are engraved in the memory of the wood. This materiality gives the works the character of an object, even though some of them look like classic paintings at first glance. Lena Schmidt calls this effect »The tipping moment«, it has its counterpart in the transitions from strict structures and clear lines to the diffuse moments that make the visual quality of the »Power Lines«.
The »Power Lines« are not specifically tied to locations: they are showing overland power lines intersections, the carriers of energy and information of urban life. Storms regularly show how fragile these »energy lines« are, which work like a nervous system. Lena Schmidt's »Power Lines« are applied to discarded wood with a marker and acrylic paint in which the artist then carves and scratches the light giving it a »body«. The works get their clear object character from their strong materiality by using the left behind products of industrial wastelands: pillars, ply wood and poles. The consequences of the decomposition process, be it corrosion or weathering, are engraved in the memory of the wood. This materiality gives the works the character of an object, even though some of them look like classic paintings at first glance. Lena Schmidt calls this effect »The tipping moment«, it has its counterpart in the transitions from strict structures and clear lines to the diffuse moments that make the visual quality of the »Power Lines«.
»Anjuna Poles No. 2«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker, enamel on wood, carved into wood, 130 × 13 × 13 cm
»Anjuna Poles No. 1«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker, acrylic paint, enamel on wood, carved into wood, 29 × 69 × 6 cm
»Anjuna-Mapusa Road No. 2«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, acrylic paint, marker on wood, carved and scratched into wood, 125 × 113,5 cm
»Anjuna-Mapusa Rd.«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, acrylic paint, marker, enamel on wood, carved into wood, 55 × 124 cm
»Delhi«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker on wood, carved into wood, 92 × 80 cm
»Arambol Near Petrol Pump«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker, acrylic paint, enamel on wood, carved and scratched into wood, 88 × 115 cm
»Chapora, Near Church«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker, acrylic paint, enamel on wood, carved into wood, 58 × 36 × 6 cm
»Assagao Main Road No. 1«, »Assagao Main Road No. 2«, »Assagao Main Road No. 3«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker on wood, carved into wood
»Assagao Main Road No. 3«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker on wood, carved into wood, 23 × 27 × 4 cm
»Assagao Main Road No. 2«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker on wood, carved into wood, 21 × 34 × 6 cm
»Assagao Main Road No. 2«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker on wood, carved into wood, 21 × 49 × 6 cm
»Williamsburg«, Lena Schmidt, 2012, marker, acrylic paint, enamel on wood, carved into wood, 24,5 × 50 × 10 cm
»Little Haiti No.2«, Lena Schmidt, 2011, marker on wood, scratched into wood, 46 × 15 × 9,5 cm, 47 × 9,5 × 9,5 cm
»Little Haiti Street«, Lena Schmidt, 2011, Marker on wood, carved into wood
»3rd Street No. 2«, Lena Schmidt, 2011, marker on wood, scratched into wood
»3rd Street«, Lena Schmidt, 2011, marker on wood, scratched into wood
»NW 6th Ave«, Lena Schmidt, 2011, marker and spraypaint on wood, scratched into wood
»NE 41st Street«, Lena Schmidt, 2010, marker on wood, scratched into wood
»NE 44th Street«, Lena Schmidt, 2010, marker on wood, scratched into wood
»NE Bayshore Drive No. 2«, Lena Schmidt, 2010, marker on wood, paint scratched from wood, 54 × 34 cm
»NE Bayshore Drive«, Lena Schmidt, 2010, marker on wood, paint scratched from wood, 54 × 34 cm