Barbara Kleinhans

Artist Statement

I grew up in the countryside of Wisconsin in the small town of New Holstein. It’s an area filled with the offspring of German immigrants, expansive skies and lots of cows. The youngest of six children, there was no end to the dream worlds I imagined existed beyond the 80 acres of farmland that my family owned.

It’s that sense of wide-open space and never-ending rows of corn that is portrayed in my paintings.  An uncomplicated life captured in a minimal amount of color and lines. The feeling of rough barn floors and prickly grass under my bare feet. Feeling contained within my surroundings.

My paintings revolve around my childhood memories and the fragments of history I've collected from the generations that lived there before me.

ABOUT THE WORK:

The tools of my trade are an assortment of  painting knives, brushes, acrylic paint, oil pastels, graphite and stretched canvas. Using painting knives allows me to build up texture in normally flat acrylic paint.  It's a slow process but I enjoy building layer upon layer and letting the painting slowly reveal itself. The final result is a painting rich in texture with many subtle variations to explore up close.

The incorporation of family documents is a way for me to share this history with others.