Sabine Moritz’s work explores the dynamics of how memory is constituted and the way in which it is subject to a continual process of deformation and reformation. Described by Hans...
Sabine Moritz’s work explores the dynamics of how memory is constituted and the way in which it is subject to a continual process of deformation and reformation. Described by Hans Ulrich Obrist as 'memories made visual – the fleeting impulses of the past rendered concrete in art', Moritz’s paintings, by turns abstract and figurative, activate an awareness of time. They are records of specific, highly personal experiences that open out onto the general horizon of a collective history, from the artist’s childhood in the East German town of Jena, to the abstract notions of transience, decay and seriality. Mortiz’s work may be interpreted, above all, as a protest against forgetting, while also stating in no uncertain terms the inherent fragility, mutability and immateriality of memory.
With the title 'Maia', Moritz relates the painting to her abstract work group, in which she uses mythological titles, such as Cassiopeia I-II (2021/22), Thetis I-II (2021/24) and Persephone I-II (2023). This series of paintings thematises complex, female figures from Greek mythology. Often, they are goddesses or nymphs whose personalities are reflected in the paintings. It is particularly appealing to Moritz that the ancient concept of humans and gods is strongly connected to nature and its processes.
Sabine Moritz (b. 1969) lives and works in Cologne. Recent solo exhibitions include 'Under the Skin' and 'Heart of Drought', Pilar Corrias, London (2023); 'Lobeda oder die Rekonstruktion einer Welt', Lyonel-Feininger-Galerie, Quedlinburg (2022); 'Mercy', Pilar Corrias, London (2021); 'Journal Entries', HENI Leviathan, London (2020) and 'Sterne und Granit', Kunsthalle, Rostock (2019).