art-indigo.ch

Agnès Kucera

Swiss artist

Studio visit by appointment

Tannacker 12
2565 Jens
+41 79 252 64 45

Accueil

Have you ever studied the perfect form of a romanesco cabbage or the exquisite delicacy of a passion flower? Such beauty inspires and speaks to me; I am drawn to these treasures of nature, and feel the desire to paint structures found in all dimensions, from the very large to the infinitely small.

Shall I take the crocodile’s back as my inspiration, or the Andes mountain chain? I love this feeling of freedom and unity. I love playing with colours, and marvel anew each time I sense the harmony among them.

I am greatly moved by the vibrant paintings of the Aborigines, a people to whom I feel very near. These paintings inspire me because they express an ancient wisdom, more than 40,000 years old, and reflect an intimate connection with nature.

When I paint I rediscover all that is instinctual in me, a knowledge that comes from far away and which whispers the secrets of life, its origins, my origins. I am fascinated by this story, and I would like to share it with you.

Latest paintings

Eliya

Eliya

Endora

Endora-42-x-32

Mepunga

Mepunga-72-x-62

Sokobaw

Sokobaw-60-x-60

Profile

I was born in 1974 and grew up in Biel/Bienne in an art-loving family. During my childhood I was introduced to a multitude of creative activities by my mother, an expert in the field. I learnt to appreciate the beauty of landscapes, to stop in front of a window adorned with flowers or an old doorway loaded with history. When I was twenty, I graduated from school and was uncertain about starting off on an artistic career. I was keen to improve my skills in English and German, and dreamt of travelling the world, of meeting people of different cultures. So when the opportunity to spend a year abroad came up, I didn’t hesitate. This was an unbelievably enriching experience, which allowed me to work in agriculture, and discover singing and drama. And I could start to paint.

Back in Switzerland, feeling rather lost, I trained as an administrator and then worked for several years in sales administration. I felt constricted, not really in the right place. Something was missing.

Portrait Agnès Kucera
Portrait Agnès Kucera

In search of new horizons, I went to Namibia, where I spent three months in the desert. This new journey helped me to discover who I am and what I really want. On my return to Switzerland I have to make money. I again worked in administration, but in my heart I was dreaming of being able to express myself through art.

I gave up work when my first child was born in 2007. My days were then filled with the laughter and tears of children, but when the silence of the night came I felt more and more strongly the urge to paint and to create. This time, I didn’t ignore it: I took the plunge, my pleasure in creating grew, and I finally dared to express what lies deep within me and deep at the heart of life. I opened the floodgates, and the water came rushing out… I am now riding this wave, delighted at being able to do what I love most!

Colour and me

Les-couleurs-et-moi1

Colour and me

I’ve loved colour for as long as I can remember.

I spent a large part of the first years of my life within the white walls of a hospital, so this is probably why I am so struck by colour. I was thirsty for colour. Discovering colour was like returning home, to a source of joy. I still have this awareness, feel this need and above all, have this sense of pleasure.

My fondest memory from my school days is without doubt a presentation I gave on food colouring. I was struck and amused by my classmates’ reaction to colour: why did they find it so difficult to eat the blue and green bread rolls I had baked that morning? How could a few drops of blue colouring added to a strawberry yoghurt convince everybody to taste it, believing it was blueberry? And as for me, why did I choose to wear a red sweater when I gave my presentation to the class? To give myself energy and self-confidence? That day I understood the importance of colour in our lives.

After spending three months in the desert, I will never forget the burning earth of Namibia.

Red-orange, unique and powerful. I lived at Camp Gecko, a lodge lost in the middle of a vast expanse. Where time no longer existed, and the world had disappeared. What should I do? The desert offered up a thundering silence: for the first time in my life I was totally free, and I chose – to paint! I painted a multitude of geckos of all sizes, from the minute to the huge, on almost all the walls of the camp. I also decorated the bungalows with various African motifs. One day, one of the workers, a member of the Owambo tribe, asked if I could paint a gecko on the walls of his hut. So there I was, the only white person in the personal sphere of his family. Although engrossed in my painting, I could smell the wood fire burning, children laughing, someone singing. Suddenly, I was overcome by a feeling as sudden as it was unexpected, the feeling of having come home at last. Everything around me should have felt strange, but it felt familiar. I was in the right place, at peace and content. I cannot explain why the paintings I now paint have something ethnic about them. That is just how it is – it is part of me.

The night sky in Namibia was a source of wonder to me. Imagine the desert, with no source of light for hundreds of miles around; the moon, the Milky Way, innumerable constellations of stars. A cloth of indigo studded with millions, billions of tiny dots … how divine!

Couleurs-et-moi3
Les-couleurs-et-moi2

How fantastic to have the opportunity to travel!

Each time, I come back full of impressions, my spirit a little more open to the world. As Montaigne said, “A man makes a journey and a journey makes a man.” I like discovering new cultures, new tastes and new ranges of colour. It is amazing how such different shades of colour are to be found in the different regions of the world! In Switzerland, the palette is mainly browns, greys and greens. How delightful to discover the universe of colours in the Caribbean: the coral-red shell of a boat crossing an emerald sea…or the gold and dark grey of the tropical light battling against a stormy sky.

Provence also made a deep impression on me with its subtle mix of colours and scents. And Roussillon’s ocre quarries…the pine trees and the hills, where one can run with childish delight in the colour, wallowing in the hues!

And the blue of the glaciers, intense, phosphorescent…
Not to mention the magical reflection of opal or labradorite…

Address

Studio
Tannacker 12
CH – 2565 Jens

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© 2024- art-indigo.ch Agnès Kucera / All rights reserved /  By TechnoCoach

Contact

+41 79 252 64 45
agnes.kucera@gmx.ch
www.art-indigo.ch