Katrin Alvarez
2004 // Artis Spectrum Magazine - Vol. 13
Katrin Alvarez-Schlüter was born in Germany, in the historic town of Güstrow-Mecklenburg. Alvarez-Schlüter began her artistic training at an early age. Demonstrating a broad range of intellectual interests, she pursued studies outside of fine art. Following completion of a law degree, she worked in journalism and pursued her own creative writing. She wrote satirical poems and published "Studentin S," a complex literary psychological portrait.
Alvarez-Schlüter's fascination with psychology led her back to figurative painting, and she began creating meticulously detailed portraits imbued with a fantastic surrealism. For the past thirty years, her images have symbolized contemporary fears and anxieties, and the artist endeavors to make the experience of viewing her paintings serve as a kind of cathartic release.
The connection between Alvarez-Schlüter's art and her literary background is apparent from the paintings' symbolic narratives and choice of titles. "Regression" depicts a woman-child rendered literally speechless by a frightful metal plate. It is a moment of psychological suspense: with her hands raised to her face, what will happen next?
Her intense gaze and strong arms impart a sense that this moment of crisis may be met by a strong determination to overcome, rather than hysteria or resignation. The figure unexpectedly appears at the edge of the canvas, instead of its center. Alvarez-Schlüter has left this open space in the painting for the viewer. It is an eerie, and effective device.
Alvarez-Schlüter is unafraid of gothic imagery. Her paintings depict a uniquely feminine perspec tive that devotees of J.G. Ballard, David Cronenberg, and H.R. Giger will find compelling.
"Desire" incorporates goldleaf, silver, copper and rayon, and features a female nude and a tree-like form; their lifeforces are conjoined via an array of snaking tubes. Earlier, Alvarez-Schlüter created a series of amulet-like paintings embedded in precious metals and mirrors. "Desire," with its varied materials, seems to have developed out of this for- mer work. Like an alchemist manipulating physi- cal matter to achieve inner harmony and spirituality, Katrin Alvarez-Schlüter's art confronts the darkness of the human psyche and seeks to turn it into a regenerative experience.