Sophie Englmaier was born in 1983 in Freilassing and lives in Fridolfing / Upper Bavaria in the countryside. In 2013, a 4-month cultural internship at the Fotohof gallery first led her to photography. From 2016 she took painting and drawing courses at the Bad Reichenhall Art Academy, and since 2018 Sophie has been an active member of the Kunstverein Traunstein e.V..
Tell us your story, why did you become an artist?
I have got to paint. Painting makes me feel free and alive, lets me grow. I want to touch people with my paintings. To remind them of their own strength, inner beauty and vitality. That's why I became an artist.
When you create a new work, how do you go about it? What comes first?
I start with a meditation, free dancing or free drawing This helps me to start out present, focused and clear. I often draw on the canvas before I start priming the canvas. It is important to me to take every single layer seriously and to bring emotion and energy to the canvas and make it come alive as early as the priming stage. Even if the first layers are no longer visible at the end, I am convinced that the viewer will feel this at the end. Incorporating natural materials into acrylic painting is important to me: charcoal, ash, sand, pigments. I paint with large gestures from the body, with long brushes, often standing on the canvas. The expressionistic, abstract acrylic paintings only develop into large-format compositions during the process. The processes vary because I experiment openly and with curiosity, I engage with the individual painting and do not want to become rigidly attached to one type of approach.
What can you tell us about your studio, what makes it special to you and how does it influence the way you work?
My studio has a wonderful view on the vast green landscape. The floor is full of color. Both contribute to my feeling of freedom. The studio is attached to our house. So I can easily switch rooms and roles.
Over the last few months, I have moved my studio completely outside into nature for my current project. I paint in the open air, in powerful places that I visit with my painting equipment. At the seaside or in the mountains. Painting in these places is something very special for me and has a very strong influence on the painting process.
Is there a work of art in your life that has especially impressed you?
I have been inspired by different works of art. I think art always touches me particularly when I feel that it has something to do with me and my vision of painting. For example, I was very impressed by the size of Maria Zerres' paintings in the DASMAXIMUM museum. I could literally feel the intensity physically. But I was also fascinated by the color tones of Maria Lassnig's works or the colors and free painting of Martha Jungwirth.
Reach to the stars: where will you be in 5 years?
I will continue to work as a free artist. At home in the countryside and when travelling. I will exhibit my paintings in beautiful, inspiring, powerful places and more and more of my paintings will hang in people's rooms wordwide. I will also be giving painting courses to help people find more creativity, joy and liveliness.
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