Public Republic

Vanya Nikolaeva

Johanna Fassbender is an artist, singer and musician living in Berlin.

She calls her drawings ‘blind’ because she never looks down at the page while drawing. Instead, her glance rests on the model whom she – so to speak – slowly captures. The aesthetic ideal is not the object being depicted, but rather the soul, the spirit of the model.

“…Without any outer impulse – engagement in an intuitional process of composing – action develops only on action and thereby, it is unpredictable, incalculable, unique… After a long lasting fight between permanent construction and permanent destruction, the process ends up with the sudden certitude that the nearly “blind” sought – after painting is found NOW, is finished NOW… ”

When and why did you decide to become a painter?

There was never a conscious decision, it was rather a flowing process. Already in my early childhood I had some of my most intensive feelings while painting, while being in contact with colors.

Do you have any favorite paintings – yours or by other artists?

I love a lot of paintings. It’s impossible to single several out. But Picasso, Bacon, Rothko and Kirkeby have been my favorite artists for a long time.

Where do you seek and find inspiration?

Nobody is an island, but I spent many periods in my life rather isolated. And pulsating Berlin is a wonderful place in order to live a secluded life. So my inner life could turn out to be very rich and still first of all I find inspiration in myself.

Is painting your vocation?

Being an artist is my vocation. And painting is one of my possibilities to express myself.

Besides painting, what other interests do you have?

Besides fine arts and my interest in literature, movies, theater, traveling, nature, yoga and meditation, my other big, equal love is music. That is a very big gift that I deeply appreciate.