Although Gerlinde Wendland is one of the most loyal SEKEM friends and is spending several weeks in SEKEM already for many years, she always has the impression “to immerse into something completely new,” the painter reveals. This is certainly connected with the diverse, constantly changing SEKEM life, but also with her art: “The conversations and new experiences with people do always appear in my paintings. And, despite the fact that I am in a close exchange with the SEKEM members about their wishes and the need for new pictures, they give me all the freedom in designing.”
This year, SEKEM wished to design the new offices of its company iSiS Organic with the abstract artworks by Gerlinde Wendland. She chose compositions made of two related paintings. “As the viewer’s gaze goes from one painting to the other, a sense of agility is created that allows the mind and spirit to be stimulated and animated,”explains Gerlinde Wendland. “And the bright and active play of colors in the pictures should create a positive atmosphere in the offices.”
Gerlinde Wendland designs her artworks, which she all hands over to SEKEM free of charge, in a studio in the attic of SEKEM’s Vocational Training Center. This art room is open to all SEKEM employees. “From time to time, mostly teachers from the SEKEM school, come to paint with me. This cooperation creates a wonderful exchange and very special artworks,” says the artist, who lives in the German city of Nuremberg. “People often impress their everyday lives experiences in art. This time, I was very touched by a picture that a SEKEM teacher painted for his friend, also a longtime SEKEM employee who recently died.”
Meanwhile, Gerlinde Wendland also supports the artistic activities offered at Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development. All students take part in painting courses as part of their obligatory Core Program. The German artist deals mainly with the HU-lecturers of this module, which aims to support the development of the students’ potential. Last November, together with the art teachers, she created a very special work: they designed the large wall in the entrance area of the new Faculty of Physiotherapy with a variation on the famous work “The Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo da Vinci. “It was a challenge, because different people have joined to create one artwork together. But, the result became fantastic – it was a wonderful social and artistic activity, which students now love to see every day when entering their classes,” says the longtime SEKEM friend.
“Art Consists of Contrast and Suspense, Like Life Itself.”
The Art of Reflecting Nature: Exhibition by Gerlinde Wendland