My painting is an act of connecting to nature

I only use earth-pigments (mexican ocre, italien siena, umbra, ironoxide,ruddle or red chalk, chalk and  charcoal, that I grind and mix with binder to produce my paints. For me natures pigments are  the deep connectors to earth and nature, its colours, atmosspheres and materiality. They are natures basic modules and carry its energy, atmosphere and feel within them. I am fascinated by the manner in which painters in medieval and renaissance times extracted and produced pigments. At this point in the history of painting, the raw materials for pigments were still completely extracted from nature. These raw-materials were minerals, animals, plants, metalls e.g. Jan Van Eycks paintings incorporated dark-blue skies, that were made of grinded lapis lazuli. The natural crystal-structure within the gemstone gave the illusion within the painting of a depth glow and shine, that noch synthetical pigment could ever generate through painting. I always paint on raw canvas, mostly pure linen. I love the textile structure and the textile work, that canvas incorporates..- it makes my paintings textile works of art. Often I also embroider into my paintings and combine both. The themes of my work reflect on our connection to nature within ourselves, around us and our relationship to it. Often I work with metaphores and representations. As the daughter of an american indian „Oglala-Sioux“, I was raised from early on, to develop a deep connection to nature and this has always been a deep wealth of inspiration for my artwork.