Hello, Ute! Tell us a little about yourself. How did you become an artist?
I have been painting for as long as my memory goes back. There was always a lot of hustle and bustle at home because we were 4 children, so I withdrew myself in this way (painting). The world around me disappeared when I immersed myself in colors. I have also been dancing since my childhood. Expressing myself and my feelings artistically has always been an urgent inner need. Would have another way it can't even exist for me.
What does your workshop (the space where you work) matter to you? Does space affect you as an artist?
The space in which I work influences me a lot. This was not so clear to me a few years ago, but with the relocation of my studio in 2020, this has become very clear. I also always pull away myself for a long time to be able to work uninfluenced. For several years I have also been working in nature and let it influence my work. The outer freedom thus becomes inner freedom, which is then shown on my canvases.
Your works depict women. Do you think it's easier to convey the beauty of a female image in paintings than a male one?
The prints I am showing here show women who were created based on drawings. Regular study of nudes according to living, even male models, forms a basis. I also made linocuts of male models, but I was never satisfied with the result. Am I being more critical of myself? What is certain is that I can empathize better with the feminine.
You founded the Vivace dance studio in Berlin, which you ran from 1995 to 2011. Have the dances somehow influenced the understanding of art and their place in it? Is your dance experience reflected in your works?
Absolutely, dance has a great influence on my work. I am a very physical person. Rotations, lines, a force that flows from the inner center of the body over this shooting out into the room. This energy can be used to stretch a room. This centered power has an important influence on my work.
Your series of works with nudes are made in the technique of linocut. Why did you choose this particular material?
The technique of linocut allows me to achieve very strong graphic results. Strong contrasts, an angular cut, and reduced details achieve a
expressive expression, which leads to theatrical exaggeration.
Is there any message in your works? What thoughts should they evoke in the viewer’s mind? What is the Ute Manoloudakis photographer trying to tell us in his works?
Basically, I am interested in the topics of freedom and open society. Strong women with self-confidence, but who also let their sensitive side shine through, find I'm fascinating. To give them a stage is my concern. What the viewer makes of it is then no longer in my hand.
Tell us about the creative plans in the future?
I do not want to be classified by my environment into certain contexts, nor do I want to do this myself. I am curious about the unexpected and am ready to open up to new things. Standstill is the end for me. Often I have an idea and make a plan on how to proceed. In the middle of the process, I then deviate and discard the plan.
There is a tremendous energy coming up in me that throws me in a different direction. That's a good thing. I'll let that happen then.
Text by Lyubov Melnickowa @lumenicka