Q&A with Transdisciplinary Artist Susanna Neunast

INTERVIEWED BY Bongiwe Nocanda PHOTOS Gudrun Kemsa for Galerie Lausberg; Studio Susanna Neunast

German-born transdisciplinary artist, Susanna Neunast, splits her time between Cape Town and Cologne, Germany. Here she talks to Bongiwe Nocanda about her upcoming exhibition at Galerie Lausberg and how life in Cape Town impacts her work.

You’ll be exhibiting ‘The Impact of Water: Perceiving Nature’ at Lausberg Contemporary from 7 June to 1 September 2024, tell us about the creative process. How did you develop the ideas behind this body of work?

I find that we generally tend to judge our environment at first glance. I want the viewer to look at my work again and question what it is they are looking at. I work with natural elements from a different perspective that I hope will challenge the viewers’ eye. Additionally, I create a “new nature” (for example the moon or the sun) by collaging the photographs I’ve taken of nature along with superimposed geometric forms of coloured acrylic glass. For many scientists and I, nature is perfection – with perfectly balanced laws and processes, it doesn’t contain straight lines or perfect circles. A circle is endless, continuous and mankind’s symbol of perfection. By combining these two different angles with nature’s intrinsic contradictions, I ask the viewer to refocus on the meaning of perfection in the nature that surrounds us.

As a transdisciplinary artist, why did you create this body of work using these mediums? Tell us about the materials you use and why.

For this body of work, I used the medium of photography as my starting point to reveal fascinating surreal images. Photography captures the continuous movement of water, making these abstract images visible. I juxtapose the photography under coloured acrylic glass. This deliberate use of an artificial material against nature leads to a new kind of symbiosis. The geometric acrylic shapes against the natural elements beneath the photography create an otherworldly image. An interplay of form and colour based on the simple geometric shapes that blur the distinction between the natural and the superficial. Fluorescent acrylic glass is versatile and offers various possibilities in terms of perception and perspective. I use the effect of the material to work out opposing characters from different angles when viewing the works – from the frontal view, the material merges with the photo to reveal a new world. The side view reveals the multilayered three-dimensional world order.

This body of work explores the significance of water, the beauty in its surface reflections and its implications for our world and climate. Where does your preoccupation with the beauty of the water stem?

I’ve always loved being in or next to water and when our family is in Cape Town, we almost always have panoramic sea views. The preparation for my first series came about in 2007 when I was inspired by abstract paintings that colourfully reflected boats painted on the surface of the ocean. Thereafter, every snapshot of the water’s surface that I captured was unique and never the same. In 2012, I started research for my book‚ Mit Anlauf in die Pfütze, which was published in 2013 and delved into the many topics around water; its beauty and the physical laws behind it, its destructible power and its vulnerability, the playfulness it causes and the sensual pleasures it gives. This was the start of an even deeper involvement.

What is your aesthetic and how have your life experiences influenced this style?

I appreciate a strong contrast between natural elements and modern, intense materials. This applies to architecture, interior design, and fashion and might also have found its way into my art. I’m interested in what touches me and what excites me. Music and dancing have had a big influence – being carried away by harmony in what I hear and see. My emotion is what directs my focus. I get lost in the detail when touching the surface of the material I’ve painted. 

What skills did you have to develop or learn to create this body of work?

I’ve spent a lot of time in nature studying the movement of water. I understood how the surface and the reflection changes depending on the state of water; whether it is flowing water, water moved by waves or water moved by wind alone. I’ve studied the impact of daylight and the time of the year to find the right spots for my photoshoots. I’ve often spent hours immersed in nature, watching the water to look for a perspective and impression that is unexpected, that challenges the viewers’ perception when the work is on the wall.

You are currently working on your next body of work. How has your experience with ‘The Impact of Water: Perceiving Nature’ influenced this new direction?

I’ve spent a lot of time next to large bodies of water, searching and capturing unexpected phenomena at an angle that challenges the viewer’s perception. Those bodies of water were mainly landlocked. I joined a group of photographers in Cape Town during sunrise and sunset photoshoots, and I realised the formations on the beach, particularly at low tide, when the moon’s gravity pulls the water off the shore, were spectacular. This became my new time for my photoshoots, the time before sunrise and just after sunset. In my new series titled, Low Tide Moons, I work with retrieved and recycled ghost fishing nets for the first time. The photographs are covered by another layer, a woven grid of recycled ghost fishing nets I add layers of paint too, to create an additional moon shape. The grid of ghost nets partly hides the beauty of the water. These ghost nets are lost in the oceans and continue fishing with no purpose. I get ghost fishing ropes from organisations like Healthy Seas and Ghost Diving, who retrieve nets out of the ocean using volunteer divers. They fund this important work with donations.

You split your time between Cologne and Cape Town. How has your experience of living in South Africa influenced your work?

I came to Cape Town in 2020, led by my interest in enhancing my art by collaborating with ocean protection organisations. The collaboration in 2020 never materialised, but it brought me to Cape Town where I met my partner, and our life on both continents began. Living in South Africa has influenced me because of our proximity to the sea. Observing the African sunrises over the ocean made me start painting again. I spend a lot of time in nature and on the beach around the Cape Peninsula, where the strongest winds reveal nature’s elements. I fell in love with the vibrancy of Cape Town – it’s a buzzing but chilled city at the same time – then of course the fashion, food and pace of life allowed me to be incredibly creative. Being in South Africa, where things are still in progress, offers flexibility and spontaneity, which energizes me. The local art scene is rich with works from spectrums I didn’t know about in Europe.

How have other artists or art genres influenced your aesthetic?

All the art I see leaves an impression and influences me. In the same way, scientific innovations and research on environmental topics do. Leonardo da Vinci with his constant curiosity for the new to nature and everything he was interested in – observing his environment and discovering aspects about nature that most people didn’t even look at the time. He was an artist, architect, scientist, and inventor. Another artist I admire is multidisciplinary artist Olafur Eliasson. His relationship with our planet is inspiring because of how multi-faceted his work has always been, not tied to one specific expression.

Please tell us about works recently acquired by Conrad Resort in Orlando, Florida and plans for the future.

The resort acquired works from The Impact of Water: Perceiving Nature for its newly opened hotel. The main theme of the resort is water with their central lagoon situated next to a pristine nature reserve. For the future, I’ll be back in Cape Town in Spring, and I’m very excited about bringing The Impact of Water: Perceiving Nature to Cape Town during summer in collaboration with Tusk Media.  

‘The Impact of Water: Perceiving Nature’ opens at Lausberg Contemporary as part The Impact of Colour’ from 7 June to 1 September 2024. For more information about the artist and her works, contact bongiwe.nocanda@tuskmedia.co.za.

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