The Space between Things – the “dark paintings”

"The paintings by Sabine Brand Scheffel “walk” on a fine line between perception and imagination. For her imagery, the artist draws equally from the rich abundance of the visible world as well as from her own inner feelings. The main initiators for her work are impressions of nature, visual experiences on journeys, experiences of different landscapes stimulated by their unique colours and light atmospheres and the encounter with memorable architectural phenomena. Sabine collects these visual impressions as moments of inspiration: they are the foundation with which she develops her imagery, moderated over time and filtered through memory. However, the connection to the sensually experienced object is always retained in her work by compression and an almost meditative approach through a transformation process in which the freedom of the painting process dominates..." >> >>
Ursula Merkel 2014


The Painting itself has passed through the Filter of Memory

"... I am looking for the “inner sound”, harmonious compositions that are intuitively obvious during the painting process. Emotional states and moods can indeed be captured in words such as joy, sadness, despair and so on, but these terms insufficiently describe individual perception or expression of an emotion. So I chose painting and drawing. The idea of the image, the imagination, the memory of what has been experienced and processed is there and is trans- formed into matter. Alongside the painting process I do small material tests on paper and wood, painted by products which are incidentally created but may suddenly be elevated into the next medium, that is onto canvas. These material tests are also there to get into the mood to work on a larger canvas, but never its preparation, – well only very rarely. The battle only begins on the large surfaces. Calculated coincidence sometimes becomes a companion..." >> >>
Mario Kramer in conversation with Sabine Brand Scheffel 2014


About the Poetry of Nature

"Sabine Brand Scheffel’s painting art is devoted to the rich variety of the cosmos, her canvases being primarily shaped by the elements water, light and air. The approach is always taken from what has been perceived – although not depicted in a traditionally naturalistic way. The connection to the visible world is generated by coloration and the rhythm of forms. Often landscapes and natural structures are retraced and thus related to the horizon or other spatial references. Flowing colours and lines create an atmosphere of livelihood and movement. Situations and places of transition such as river banks, bridges and windows play an ever important role. In Sabine Brand Scheffel’s paintings the intense colours and opulent forms of the tropics, but also the mildness of European landscapes veiled in mist find a visualization that allows the observer to take part in the moments experienced by the artist. Often her canvases appear to the alert eye as magical visions of nature and landscape..." >> >>
Gerlinde Brandenburger-Eisele 2000