Nominee Threshold Award Autonomous Practices
Meet Adara Goschalk! Adara was nominated for the 2021 Threshold Award Autonomous Practices with her graduation project ‘I Only Exist Between the Paint and the Canvas’. In this interview, Adara tells us about her work and future plans.
Can you tell us a bit about your graduation project and how it came about?
My work is composed by intertwining the flow of existence with the waves of my restless mind. It is about being obsessed and completely devoting myself to the paint. I graduated with a series of paintings that blur the line between reality and imagination. In this collection, my fascination with the medium and with freedom of mind and space are visible. The paintings allow their spectators to completely immerse themselves in a surrealistic journey of nostalgia, obsession and chaos by playing with the boundaries of what we think to be normal. With my work, I challenge the audience to look beyond their common knowledge, find ways to play with their surroundings, and escape reality. By questioning what we believe to be real, I create narratives where there is no wrong or right, I create alternative spaces where the story is yet to be told. There are things that we can not change in real life, but with our imagination, we can.
Which themes or societal concerns are you addressing in your work, and how?
In my practice, I record different levels of emotion by blurring the line between reality and imagination. I am obsessed with chaos, change, and paint. By constantly testing the boundaries of our mind and our surroundings we learn to grow, evolve and change in this manner we can find ways to express ourselves as opinionated individuals within a collective. With my work, I want to comfort you but also confront you by creating spaces in which you have the freedom to reflect upon modern attitudes and conditions that we encounter every day. In these spaces you are allowed to question the nature of everything. I want to remind you of the huge value there is in chaos, insecurities, and in the playfulness of life. To change a situation we must first think of a solution, my work offers you the space for that process.
What will you be working on in the near future? What are your next steps?
While the country was in lockdown due to the pandemic, I was unable to buy canvases. This made me realize that sometimes a practice is about finding ways to keep your work alive under any circumstance. I started painting on my bedsheets, towels, clothes, anything I could find around me. I want to continue experimenting with different fabrics and materials in order to create more worlds in which we can get lost, re-imagine reality, and evolve. Besides that, I want to keep exhibiting my work at galleries and in public spaces. I will also be working with other creatives to gain knowledge, create collective works, and form communities. I would like to keep exploring the different positions I can have as an artist and the different ways of relating to my audience. I believe we can change with the power of our imagination, we need to cultivate and practice freedom of thought everyday.
To read more about Adara’s work, pay a visit to her Graduation Catalogue Page. Furthermore, her journey can be followed on her Instagram and Website. The winners of the Threshold Award Autonomous Practices will be announced during a festive ceremony as part of the Graduation Show. Keep an eye on our Graduation Show page for more information.
