Resonance instead of reflection
How Gerti Landwehr creates her portraits
Gerti Landwehr's portraits do not arise from a desire to reproduce a face true to life, but from a need to make an inner resonance visible. For her, it always begins with a moment of contact - a
glance, a posture, a fleeting expression that sets something in her vibrating. She encounters these visual impulses in everyday life, often casually, but they carry an emotional density that
becomes the starting point for a new painting.
Landwehr collects such impressions like fragments: situations, moods, gestures. From these visual splinters, an inner image forms, gradually condensing until it is clear enough to push its way
onto the canvas. Only then does the concrete work process begin. She develops sketches, adds intuitively chosen visual material, combines, alienates, and abstracts. The later expression of the
portrait figure thus emerges from a condensation of perception, memory, and inner projection - far beyond the image of a single person.
The canvas is chosen deliberately: format, size, and image section must correspond to the inner narrative of the portrait. The first draft is made directly on the canvas, usually with graphite.
Lines are checked, proportions corrected again and again until the tension between face, figure, and image space is harmonious and color takes over the process.
Her painting thrives on contrasts: figure and abstraction, calm and energy, rough strokes and precise accents. Landwehr works with brushes, spatulas, and rubber scrapers, pouring, layering, and
scratching away layers of paint. Each layer remains visible as a fine transparency or trace and enters into a dialogue with the next. She deliberately avoids using black; dark tones are created
by multi-layered overlays of different shades that generate depth without the harshness of pure black. This layered painting technique lends the portraits a vibrant, atmospheric density.
Her style is characterized by powerful brushstrokes and unusual color combinations. Colors that appear contradictory at first glance find intuitive harmony in her painting process. Abstract
forms, wild surfaces, broken lines, and energetic traces seem to arise incidentally, yet form the foundation of the image's effect. From this apparent roughness and color alienation, faces
develop that appear surprisingly lively, sensitive, and vulnerable. It is precisely this combination of strength and delicacy, of expressive gesture and sensitive expression, that has become a
distinctive feature of her work.
The choice of colors follows a strong intuition, but remains reflective. Some decisions are made spontaneously, others require distance and a fresh perspective. Nature often influences her
palette: summer leads to stronger, brighter tones, while spring and fall are reflected in more muted, broken colors - similar to foliage, light, and atmosphere as the seasons change. Landwehr
enjoys painting outdoors, and even in her studio she is closely connected to the outside world through large glass fronts, which is reflected in the lighting and colorfulness of her
paintings.
The often large formats require physical movement. Viewed up close, the painting initially appears abstract, raw, and color-intensive; from a distance, the picture surface comes together to form
a harmonious, expressive face.
That is why Landwehr constantly changes her perspective and distance: she steps back, looks at the whole, approaches the canvas again, and makes the next decisive brushstroke. She deliberately
avoids painting too precisely or smoothly. A quick, seemingly rough stroke can become a highly sensitive expression when viewed from a distance of a few meters.
The result is portraits that are louder than they appear at first glance and, at the same time, more delicate than one might initially suspect. They invite the viewer to slow down their gaze,
allow resonance to occur, and perceive those subtle nuances that make encounters between people so precious. In Gerti Landwehr's work, the portrait becomes a mirror of inner vibrations - a visual
field in which strength, vulnerability, and vitality become visible at the same time.
