Christine Streuli: Lange Arme, Kurze Beine

: Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland

«An arm’s length away from perishing. A leg’s width away from persisting. For twenty years now, I have been predominantly painting. For this purpose I use my body, my arms, my legs. I pace out spaces with my legs, stretch myself long and get down on my knees. Again and again. I raise and lower, shift, touch, grasp hold of walls, ceilings, floors and picture carriers. Again and again. I have been working with my body for twenty years, and in turn it always works in dialogue with its vis-à vis, today in collaboration, tomorrow in opposition. What I paint is supposedly splotches and gestures. It is a matter of paint that is spread, poured, shaken, smoothed, sprayed and flung. It is all about the body, about movement. Coloured surfaces, greasy splotches, oozing paint-noses and dripping tears. Nevertheless: I can’t bear that much coincidence; it doesn’t interest me. I am an observer in search of grounds and backgrounds, I am a measurer of fields whose dimensions I like to define myself; someone who must feel, smell, see and touch in order to understand what is happening or has happened.» (Christine Streuli)