万一对话｜科查·瑞斯特：我的绘画并不描绘现实

Could you share with us the influence Switzerland (life) and Holland (studies) have had on your work?

During my studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam Dutch/Flemish painting of the 80s and 90s had a great influence on me. I was, so to speak, artistically socialized there. Artists like René Daniëls, Luc Tuymans or Marlène Dumas were and still are references. In Switzerland, where I live, the discourse on figurative painting is rather small. Nevertheless, my family background as well as the nature and landscapes of Switzerland are a formative element in my artistic work. 

May I kindly ask you about the reality of your paintings (what they are)?

My paintings usually refer to something concrete. However, they do not depict reality, but rather a possibility of it. They are stories, but they never reveal everything.

What kind of scenery and daily life inspire your creative process? How do you approach the balance of light and shadow in your artwork, as well as your preference for color tone and warmth?

In my works, landscapes and everyday life are set pieces that refer to my own or imaginary experiences. Literature, the word, plays a decisive role here.

Light and shadow are the most important elements in painting. My color palette is mostly very restrained, it is a response to the garish advertising world of the media. 

In your work "Heritage", you depicted a wall covered with your own works, can you talk more about this work?

the work "Heritage" was created during the Covid period. The title refers to the cat figurine that I received as a gift from my mother a few years ago. I never really knew what to do with it. At the same time, it is also a reflection of my relationship with my deceased mother. But "Heritage" can also be seen in relation to an artistic legacy. The picture within the picture can be seen as a window or a collection of pictures and ultimately refers to certain paintings by Edouard Manet. These are pictures that I have already painted, an imaginary heritage of my own. The picture can also be seen as a preparatory work for the "Contents" series, in which I applied the same principle.

In your work, figures rarely seem to appear in specific scenes. How do you think about your portraits and other works?

Figures actually rarely appear in my paintings. I believe that this absence charges the images, because the people are latently present. But it's no that I don't paint figures or portraits, they are created when there is a certain relationship to the person being painted. But this relationship can also be fictional.

Do you still use a camera to capture scenery or trivial details of life? With the rise of smartphones in recent years, what kind of emotions do you hold about digital tools?

I often use my camera but also my smartphone. These photos are a source of ideas, a kind of note text. I'm only marginally interested in the photo itself. I usually only use details of them.

Do you have any specific habits or working methods in your artistic practice? Have you ever questioned or reevaluated them?

There are two working methods: 1. the fast working method with layer painting similar to a Japanese haiku. 2. the constructed picture, where surfaces and objects are joined together.

I have been using adhesive tape for several years. This juxtaposition of color surfaces and narrative elements sometimes makes the pictures look strangely flat.

The further development of my working method is always part of my reflection on my work.

We can see that you are interested in structure, orders and blocks, which appear frequently in the depiction of scenes and details. It must be partly related to the fact that you were born in a family of architects. With the restrained and detached onlooker's point of view presented in your works, would you say that you are a more rational person?

The structures and order in my paintings have a compositional aspect and of course, my family environment has influenced me. But the tradition of geometric painting in Switzerland is also a cornerstone.

But I also need the order or geometry to take what is shown out of a purely naturalistic context and thus dynamically charge the picture.

I am more of an emotional person.

In your past works we find some old porcelains, are you perhaps interested in antiques as well?

I painted some vases some time ago. My intention was to depict the bourgeoisie's strange interest in chinoiserie in the 19th century.

My grandparents also had such vases.

Fake, of course, but it was just part of good etiquette. It is also an examination of the colonialism of the time and how we feel about it post-colonially today.

The oversized depiction of the vases takes them out of their actual context and, despite their clear figuration, turns them into an abstraction of the past.  

What do you read on a regular basis? Or any other hobbies, like music or movies?

One of my great inspirations is literature. This is where I get my ideas and titles for my works. In other words, the word is always at the beginning of my painting. My interest is the link between word and image. That means I write pictures, the narration is the story.