October 7, 2023

Andrea Querchfeld

It was a long journey to get to Andrea’s remote home and studio – down a dirt road down another dirt road and down yet another that made us wonder if we were in the right place. But we were and we came to a house nestled in the woods on the edge of Bras D’or Lake close to Marble Mountain and up against a dense forest. It’s a very peaceful spot where the presence of nature is palpable.

The location, far from her native Munich, attests to her love of nature and the wild and she admits to hoping to see some “elementals”, or nature spirits, in the Canadian forest. “It was my biggest wish, if I go to Canada, that I find some and see some.” And she did see one that let her know that their present home was a good place for them to settle.

Although Andrea likes to paint outside, she is not a landscape painter. She uses the energy of nature to focus her “in the moment” and on the spiritual aspects of art.

Andrea is a self taught artist and started with collages.

She first started making collages to express her emotions and combat her previous depression, later switching to painting with oils and acrylics on large canvases. “I did it to help myself, my depression. It was a big help for me. If I paint, after the painting I was feeling balanced and content.” Self-taught, she describes her work as “intuitive”, created mainly to enrich her own spirit.

Light is a crucial part of almost all Andrea’s art.

“Working on many canvases simultaneously, her recurring themes are seeking the light as an antidote to the sad condition of the earth due to the effects of human activity. “The radiation of light is the power of the Creator.” And she is always exploring how to represent this element of light. “The radiation of light gives us strength,” she believes.

The paintings are abstractions of natural and man-made elements or simply abstract and are created in layers. Her process is always different. A painting may start with an idea or else an image might just come to her. She has researched colour and admits, “I love colour. I love to work with pigment and mix it.” Using raw materials, the mixing process sometimes yields surprising results of vivid, luminous colour.

“Versunken” translates to sunken or submerged (according to ChatGPT).

On her walls are a series of five paintings of tall lattice-like buildings, “like diamonds or jewels”, that are transferring light to the surroundings. On another wall is a painting depicting “the cross of truth in the sky after a human stretches himself on earth.” Another one of a woman’s profile amid luminous beings she explains they are, “… like angels. She is in meditation. She feels it.”

Andrea in her living room in front of her painting called “Überleben” The German word “Überleben” translates to “survival” in English (Arrording to ChapGPT).

Another painting is of a small sailboat about to be engulfed by a giant wave. “This is a struggle with a little sailboat. A struggle over life.”

Although she sold paintings in Germany through galleries and public exhibitions, it’s difficult to find places in Cape Breton to sell art. But for Andrea, selling is not the point. “For me, it’s not so important to sell. It’s important to paint for my own feeling.”

And what is also important is being present and the immediacy of experience. “I live today. Here we can feel the day. I can only describe it like this.”