Artist of the Month July 2012

Bianca Pratorius

Miami, Florida

I was born and raised in Cologne, Germany in 1969. My formal training began at the Holzfachschule Köln where I received a BFA equivalent degree in fine furniture building and design. In 1993 I moved to Miami to attend International Fine Arts College. I still live in Miami and am currently a resident artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami’s Wynwood Art District.

How and when did you start creating art?

When I was a child my mother worked for an artist in Cologne. I would accompany her to the artist’s studio where I would watch what I thought was magical. To this day the smell of oil paint brings back all sorts of wonderful memories.

What media and genres do you work in?

I work mostly in installation now, but I am a printmaker at heart so I often incorporate that into my work as well. I am also completely in love with encaustic and have worked with it extensively in the past.

Who or what are your influences?

I have always been incredibly inspired by architecture and most of my work over the years has had it’s basis in my observations of interesting structures in my environment.

I have been exploring this sort of ladder structure for some time now. It first appeared a few years back in a body of work I did about Miami construction sites and noticed it coming up in my work over and over. At the time I was drawn to buildings under construction especially the patterns created by the supporting structure which is eventually hidden. After a while I focused in more narrowly on the ladder structure and am currently investigating the structural and tactile potential of various materials when either arranged or cut into this sort of pattern or shape.

Describe your creative process?

Even though my work is very process oriented the approach to my subject is very intuitive. Once I find something that interests me I investigate it from all angles and use different tools I have at my disposal to explore and pry. I love experimentation so there is, naturally, a lot of failure, but I keep coming back until I have something that really resonates with me.

What are you working on currently?

I continue to develop this body of work further. I am always on the lookout for new materials to manipulate and I am also working on creating a body of work employing various printmaking techniques using the imagery of the structures I have been creating in felt and paper.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

Most of all I’d like to continue creating work that excites me on a personal level and have the opportunity to show it in respected institutions of art. I would also love to find gallery representation in some of the bigger metropolitan areas like New York and LA and I’d love to be able to take my work home to Germany and show it there. That has been a dream of mine for some time.

Where can people view/purchase your work (gallery, website, etc)?

My work is currently on view at the Appleton Museum of Art near Orlando and can also be viewed on my website www.biancapratorius.com