Who I am

Artist Statement  

Artist Name:               Nirmi Ziegler

Work title:                 ‘Who I am’

Date of production:    2013

Media:                            Handmade paper, water colour, cotton thread

Dimensions (h x w):     45 x 65 cm

      

General Concept:

The art works are created by using the process of papermaking from plant off-cuts or cotton rags. The pulp forms the basis for a process of layering. This is sometimes done with inlays applied on the wet paper. In a further process after the drying, some of these papers then become the support for prints, painting, embroidery, and further collage. The main concerns deal with environmental (outer) issues and an inner exploration.

Who I am

This artwork questions the concept of identity, which attaches itself to the variables of outer manifestations[1], but neglects the question of ‘why we are’ in the first place. What is our purpose beyond manmade economics, boundaries, restrictions and this artificial construct of ‘otherness’? The five languages used represent these fabricated identities.[2]

Instead of the emphasis on how we differ, the concept of the artwork aims to see the path of humanity as a whole, investigating it from the paradigm of self-experience, also known as meditation.

Investigation

‘Who I am’  is a poem written in 2006 as part of an inner exploration. In this artwork fragments of the poem are used, which correspond with the colours, forms, lines, and textures of the work. This further emphasises the various investigations into the self. The four colours code the four experienced levels of being: nothingness (white), existence (blue), tangible reality (yellow), and the individual (red). The mainly abstract character of the artwork makes reference to the beginnings of this genre, which was essentially spiritual in its concept.  

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[1]  such as ( the ‘big’ issues of) nation, religion, culture, and ( ‘trivial’ matters of) food, sports,‘soapies’, car-, computer- and cell phone brands, and the lot.

[2]  The poem is in English, but for this artwork, parts of it were translated into different languages: Italian, Latin, French, German and English.

Io sono una parte

Ero e sarò  sempre una parte

I am part

 was and will always be part

je changé

I change

Muto formae

Mutatis mutandis

I change my forms

I change

and

change

Ich bin mir selbst ein Rätsel
wer ich wohl bin?

I am a mystery to myself

what I am lies outside my perception

and still I am and will be

eternally a part of this

existence

Fragments from the poem “Who I am” by NIRMI

16. February 2006