studio still life 1995 Keike Twisselmann Photograph

Born in Berlin in 1967, Keike Twisselmann studied Fine Arts in belfast from 1989 to 1992 and her Masterclass with Prof. Alastair McLennan from 1994 to 1996 at the University of Ulster. Residing in Berlin since 2000, she was voted into the chair commitee of the Berufsverband Bildender Kuenstler Berlins. Her work is based on philosophical and political questions.ON PAINTING: (...) Keike Twisselmann has a gift of colour imbued by existence. None of her marks are just filling in some available space. All are hot and high on life. Their look may remind you of Franz Marc - but the differences point to Keike as inventive painter.I perceive two bundles of differences. One bundle is made up of her existential anguish, of the deeply felt disappointment with the ethics of the contemporary societies. The other, paradoxically, while rooted in the same anguish, celebrates fragments of the living world wrapped up in fragments of myths.It is perhaps useful to recall, that myth is a meme for remembering truth. In the way Keike imbues her colours with energy, I sense the myth of Prometheus. She would be not the only contemporary artist replicating some aspects of his deed. Tim Rollins and K.O.S has devoted a large website to their work on Prometheus Bound. A myth becomes actual when the conditions it is centred on - repeat in a different time and different place. Prometheus, whose name means foresight (that of his brother Epimetheus means aftersight), tricked Zeus into accepting a smaller portion of meat at the settlement between gods and men. When Zeus hid the fire in exchange, Prometheus stole it and gave it to mankind . He was punished by being bound and having his liver eaten by an eagle until he was rescued by Herakles. Aeschylus play Prometheus Bound has a passage in which Prometheus tells how he taught people various arts. Thus Teaching is framed by Force and Violence. It is as if the hero had a foresight that both force and violence make the world, the very soil, sterile, and that rebellion against them promises not just knowledge, but also liberty and creativity. The call and act Prometheus issued and made are more than apt for the historical period during the formation years of Keikes art practice.The 20th C started with many innovative ideals and practices, and continued developing them in the terrible shadow of Force and Violence. Like clouds of poisonous gas both penetrated the most private secret dreams of justice and peace and good life.