b. 1977 - Heidelberg, Germany
Initially coming from painting, Anna-Lena Sauer’s latest work increasingly focuses on the exploration of different kinds of material, ranging from natural and synthetic textiles to plastics and paint. In her abstract material paintings and sculptures the artist reutilizes every-day objects such as garments, fabric scraps, broken soccer balls, garden hoses and packaging materials. Liberated from their familiar context and included in a work of art, the found objects not only lose their original function but also can not be clearly defined anymore. Sauer uses them as an artistic medium, a substitute for paint or clay to give texture and plasticity to her work. Of particular interest is the juxtaposition of contrasting materials and their different properties as well as the interaction of texture, color, line, shape and space as autonomous key elements. The experimentation with material reveals ongoing tensions between softness and rigidity, disclosure and concealment, tenseness and release. Sauer intends to activate seeing. The perception of her work is an engaging process challenging the observer’s attention and patience in times of rapid media consumption. Anna-Lena received a degree in Fine Arts at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar (HBKsaar) in Saarbrücken, Germany in 2005. She was nominated Meisterschüler (Master Pupil) in 2004. Since 2011 Sauer lives and works in San Francisco.
Initially coming from painting, Anna-Lena Sauer’s latest work increasingly focuses on the exploration of different kinds of material, ranging from natural and synthetic textiles to plastics and paint. In her abstract material paintings and sculptures the artist reutilizes every-day objects such as garments, fabric scraps, broken soccer balls, garden hoses and packaging materials. Liberated from their familiar context and included in a work of art, the found objects not only lose their original function but also can not be clearly defined anymore. Sauer uses them as an artistic medium, a substitute for paint or clay to give texture and plasticity to her work. Of particular interest is the juxtaposition of contrasting materials and their different properties as well as the interaction of texture, color, line, shape and space as autonomous key elements. The experimentation with material reveals ongoing tensions between softness and rigidity, disclosure and concealment, tenseness and release. Sauer intends to activate seeing. The perception of her work is an engaging process challenging the observer’s attention and patience in times of rapid media consumption. Anna-Lena received a degree in Fine Arts at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar (HBKsaar) in Saarbrücken, Germany in 2005. She was nominated Meisterschüler (Master Pupil) in 2004. Since 2011 Sauer lives and works in San Francisco.
