May 16, 2022

Kerstin Brätsch | Die Sein: Para Psychics

by Madeleine Schulz

Kerstin Brätsch, *PARA PSYCHIC_Death*, 2020-2021, Colored pencil and graphite on paper, Optium acrylic artist’s frame, 14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm) paper;
© Kerstin Brätsch, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery

Kerstin Brätsch’s Die Sein: Para Psychics emerges out of the artist’s period of isolation during the early days of the pandemic, during which she committed to the daily visualization of her physic realm. Evocative of her earlier work in Physics (2006-2008), the pieces reflect Brätsch’s enduring fascination with clairvoyance and spiritualism. As such, the concept of mediumism takes on a dual meaning in her work: the psychic, fortune-telling aspect, and that of working with a particular medium itself—in Brätsch’s case, that of painting.

Kerstin Brätsch, *PARA PSYCHICS_Radical intersection (Sphere III) and _Path of no distinction (Sphere II)*, 2021 and 2020, Colored pencil and graphite on paper; Colored pencil and graphite on paper; Optium acrylic artist’s frames, 2 parts, each 14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm) paper;
© Kerstin Brätsch, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery

The prints, the products not of paint, but colored pencils, are kaleidoscopic renderings of Brätsch’s innermost thoughts and ruminations. An almost deconstructed, abstract Self is spaced out on the page, colors and shapes laid bare for viewers to interpret as their own interiority dictates.

The exhibition is on view at Gladstone Gallery New York until June 18, 2022.