Exhibition of paintings by Andreja Schwenner: Space

The academic painter Andreja Schwenner dedicates her artistic practice to space, a theme that remains highly relevant and offers the individual vast creative horizons while allowing them to find their own narrative and expressive niche. She is thus a unique successor to the landscape tradition, drawing from the region of Dolenjska, her living environment. However, in her artistic interpretation of selected motifs, she transcends their physical presence and conventional iconographic schemes. From external inspiration, she seeks her own, reinterpreted visions and experiences. Through her artistic lens, she reveals an interest in lines, planes, colors, light, and the composition of structures, which hold a special place in her work. This is her expressive repertoire—one that enables her to communicate beyond the visible and to trust it with even intangible content.

In solutions that guide us toward the aesthetics of Informalism, we encounter the artist herself—her responses, emotional states, life and creative philosophy, as well as her experiences. Among these is undoubtedly her work as a restorer, which she undertook during her student years and later, particularly in the field of mural painting. Equally significant is her pedagogical work with children with special needs. Additionally, there are the external and internal perspectives—sight and insight—that fundamentally define her poetics. The external perspective manifests in two ways: as a walk through her familiar surroundings and as an aerial view from above, one that opens to her during paragliding flights. Yet, this external perspective is becoming increasingly scarce, as the artist moves toward introspection. Her imaginary landscapes, though resonating with real stimuli and perceptions, become a “paysage d’âme”—landscapes of the soul that embody Andreja herself.

A black line represents her vocal clarity and decisiveness. It is the outward expression of her unique personality, of the richness she holds within—gentleness, softness, sensitivity, and seismographically delicate emotional processes. Within the pictorial space, she fully inhabits her work, reflecting even an inner self-portrait. The notion of space brings awareness of its emptiness and volume, where the artist creates a dwelling for all that is uniquely and solely hers.

Andreja confidently navigates large pictorial fields, urbanizing them in her distinctive manner. Her line is both assertive and delicately responsive, a pastel imprint that translates thought into the trace of a hand. This is the most direct expression, condensed into expressive intensity—at once explicit and sensuous. It carries a special power, which is why the artist preserves its autonomy within the visual composition. If she senses the appeal of tactile engagement, she may even touch it, soften its sharpness with a finger, blur it—yet its role and significance remain unwavering.

The inner compositional dynamics are also shaped by color fields of varying directions and intensities, both translucent and materially concrete, harmonized within a refined yet limited palette of earthy tones imbued with a pastel resonance. Warm sandy hues blend with cooler grays. Since her student years, she has been particularly drawn to a distinct, physically tangible application of material. This creates a counterpoint to the translucent and delicate elements—a surface that engages in dialogue with depth, an accent that shifts the gaze from the image to the materiality itself. It is a resolute, geometrically defined, structurally emphasized element, developed through her own techniques. She selects sand—a primary, elemental substance—which, in its metaphorical meaning, reveals her personal relationship with nature and its structures. As a binder, she uses a special medium that maintains flexibility. This approach forms the DNA of her artistic poetics, one that received recognition and even praise from experts during her studies, serving as an important encouragement for her independent artistic journey. In the past, she applied this materiality with a brush and spatula, both diffusely and concentratedly, whereas today, it has become a condensed stroke of a confident spatula movement.

The artist also expresses herself on small, intimate surfaces, where her creative step is never constrained and her space never confined. These works serve as brief escapes into her own private world. Created continuously over the past one or two years, they remain an ongoing exploration. They offer her an evening retreat, a form of meditation, and an opportunity to discover the new and the different. They are milestones on her journey of daily artistic maturation, allowing for transitions and leaps. Works on paper, created in mixed media, undoubtedly influence her studio practice, bringing an element of ease and fluidity. However, they are not sketches for larger works but independent and fully realized artistic entities that stand alongside her main body of work.

Andreja Schwenner inhabits her pictorial fields with a tranquility that contains no hesitation, with harmony and aesthetic sensibility. She transforms the innocent emptiness of the canvas into an incredible (im)perfection of visual effects, creating a balanced and open dialogue between artistic manifestation and meaning.

In the meeting of the concrete and the individual, abstract creations emerge—ones that open up ever-new, intermediate mental spaces, within which the artist discovers herself, and through which we, in turn, come to know her.

Anamarija Stibilj Šajn

 

About the author

Andreja Schwenner was born on December 21, 1984, in Novo mesto, Slovenia. After completing high school in her hometown, she continued her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, where she graduated in painting in 2009 under the mentorship of prof. Bojan Gorenc. She lives and creates in the vicinity of Novo mesto.

In addition to her work in the studio, she works as an art teacher and is dedicated to educational work with children with special needs. She also leads art workshops and creates unique ceramic pieces.

Her artistic journey has been marked by participation in numerous exhibitions and several art colonies. During her studies, in 2007, she took part in exhibitions at the Velenje Gallery and in the Palacij at Ljubljana Castle, where works created at the 18th ALUO Graduate Colony were presented. In 2009, she exhibited at Lamut’s Art Salon in Kostanjevica na Krki as part of the exhibition Pogled 5.

In the following years, she was a regular participant in group exhibitions organized by the Association of Fine Artists of Dolenjska (DLUD), including at the Simulaker Gallery (2010), Až Gallery in Zagreb (2010), Kambič Gallery in Metlika (2011), and Lamut’s Art Salon (2012). Her works were also featured in exhibitions related to art colonies, such as the 6th Novo mesto Art Days (2010) and the art colony in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2011), which also led to an exhibition at the Kozara Museum.

She held her first solo exhibition in 2011 at Krka Gallery in Novo Mesto, followed by several solo exhibitions in various galleries and cultural centers in Slovenia and abroad, including Banski Dvori in Banja Luka and Ulti Gallery, where she presented her tenth solo exhibition in 2024.

Her works have also been exhibited internationally, including at the Dom Polonii Gallery in Krakow (2012) and in a group exhibition at the Polish Slavic Center in Brooklyn. She also participated in the International Art Colony Počitelj in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014).

As part of the “Etikete” Biennial of Artistic Vision, she exhibited at the Dolenjska Museum in Novo Mesto in 2021 and 2023. Her works were also featured in exhibitions at Lokar Gallery in Ajdovščina (2022), the ZDSLU Gallery in Ljubljana (2021), and the UL PEF Gallery (2023). Her connection with the Association of Fine Artists of Dolenjska is reflected in her regular participation in the association’s group exhibitions in various galleries, such as Kocka Gallery, the Dolenjska Museum Novo mesto, and the Janez Trdina Cultural Center.