For Brunhilde Borms art is an invitation to play. From an early age searching for objects that inspire her inner world to connect with the great outside world becomes a playful way to survive. As a child, Borms has a keen sense that others define her from her context: the family into which she was born. Collecting beauty gives her the power and flexibility to adapt in turbulent waters. Her collection of found objects is her aesthetic safe haven in a sea of ugliness. Borms learns to define herself from her collection. It becomes an assemblage of peace and tranquillity, providing structure and value, a sense of control and perspective, in circumstances completely determined by others.
The collage technique gives Borms the opportunity to build new relationships. According to art critic and writer Maria Popova (°1984, Bulgaria), everyone is a collage: “We are nothing but a carefully curated catalogue of interests, influences, inspirations and fragments collected by living in and looking at the world.” This statement contains the key elements of Borms' oeuvre: redrawing undisputed, entrenched patterns; take up the material yourself; break the cycle; find a new path; develop yourself. There is not one story. It is the many layers and possibilities that fascinate the artist.
Borms mainly creates series. “I look in frames,” she explains. On the one hand to cherish the comfort of repetition, on the other hand to be able to revisit in depth. “Nothing is static” is a reflection of how Borms views the world. Unravelling and peeling away layer by layer, feeling and scanning from all sides to combat cultural impoverishment. Her search for materials and works of art is intuitive with an exceptional sense of texture and detail. The finds are material and cognitive. The balance between the two is the core of the work of art. The cadence is almost mathematical.
Stuff and things are lifeless, but there are many lives hidden in these works of art. The materials carry worlds full of history and traces of different stories. They ignite memories that give meaning and inspiration to the objects, allowing them to transcend themselves and become protagonists in the experience of artist and spectator. You do not exist without the other. Borms' oeuvre is ultimately about connection: the love for man, that inadequate being, in all its fragile opulence. Grab yourself, eachother and your fragile life tightly, wander around, give the redeeming beauty a chance.
