Magiae Naturalis
2020
60cm x 60cm (23.6” x 23.6”)
oil on canvas
Born and raised in Chicago, U.S.A., Sarah Kretchmer studied art at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts. She moved to Germany in 2010 and currently lives and works in Berlin. Kretchmer’s paintings are rooted in a love of history, nature, magic and color. In the artist’s most recent work, themes of magic are explored literally, with each piece inspired by and named after an ancient grimoire. They are visual ‘spells’, composed of four key elements: Something mundane, something extraordinary, something in transition, and a rift, or break in reality, represented by black hole from which the other elements arise. In essence, the pieces are visual representations of magic. Kretchmer has exhibited her work in both the United States and in Germany.