Elisabeth KapellerFeministische Künstlerin / Malerei in SchichttechnikWien | info@kapellerelisabeth.at
I am a feminist artist with a focus on painting. In my artistic practice, I follow the conviction that representational imagery often provides only a surface that conceals what truly matters. For me, authenticity does not lie in depiction, but in the immediate encounter with the material itself. I do not pursue aesthetic truthfulness, but rather a pure connection to life through the process of creation.
For this reason, I refrain from mixing pigments with painting mediums. I work with the pure physicality of matter: pigments, resins, oils, waxes, and glues are applied directly onto the canvas in their raw, original state. Each work consists of hundreds of these layers.
This process is not merely the application of paint, but a physical accumulation of time. Every layer seals a moment, while the raw materials react with one another — glue meets wax, pigment merges with resin. What the jury encounters here is not a flat representation, but a geological body formed through technical endurance and through dialogue with the uncontrolled nature of raw materials, expressed uniquely in every individual work. Layering becomes a metaphor for the complexity of being: what is visible on the surface is supported by hundreds of hidden, raw truths beneath it.
Education
PhD in Art and Cultural Studies (ongoing)
University of Applied Arts Vienna
MA in Gender Studies (2015–2017)
University of Vienna
BA in Philosophy (2011–2014)
University of Klagenfurt / University of Vienna
Art Education Practice
2024: Bakhti Empowerment Center, Vienna – Painting workshops for girls affected by violence
2017–2019: Gender and diversity workshops using artistic methods in schools (topics including belonging, violence, and homophobia)
