Ann-Margreth Bohl approches material directly to investigate qualities that she weaves into her work. Creation and movement of form is key to her work.
STONE
The material most familiar to her is stone, Bohl has been investigating the behaviour and many aspects of stone over the course of 15 years.
In her early work, the physical interaction required to master stone was the artists predominant aim, forms instinctively spring into vision.
Today her carvings have visible intention, they are born out of researched inclusion of organic form. Bohl gives way to changes that occur along the way. A constant communication between instinct and decision give her forms a directed organic feeling, where tension within the material becomes visible through the intensity of movement.
The artist pushes this solid yet fragile material to it’s limit, twisting the stone, taking it to thorn like points, which can pose a challenge in Cotswold limestone, the predominantly chosen material for her carvings.
Bohl has recently completed a large carving out of Plymouth blue, the use of power tools was for the first time necessary (see blog/home)
CLOTH.PAPER.LEATHER.STRING.BEESWAX
Ann-Margreth Bohl makes models out of cloth, paper as well as leather to study form. She observes fluidity of form in cloth, whilst leather, like our skin, shows tension pressing from the inside or a damaging rip gap resulting in a wound.
The use of beeswax, a mending, healing is expressed, a link to the artists inspiration by the likes of Beuys and Eva Hesse. Bohl was exposed to catholic church rituals growing up in rural Germany, through this she can relate to a shamanic way of creating where rituals become the catalyst of work.
GRAPHITE
a new material to the artist, she created some large scale drawings of brick walls, Bohl adopts her physical approach once more by layering the graphite thickly on the paper, picking up underlaying form, the result is a relief in graphite, mirror like reflecting light/dark equally making other light interferance visible. Graphite related work is currently developed by Ann-Margreth Bohl.