Ursula Eichenberger

Ursula Eichenberger - Compendium of Zoology

Technique: Collage

Artist Biography:

 

With a stature typical of women from central Europe, it could be said that Ursula does not go unnoticed, were it not for the fact that her artistic sensibility stands out above all else. In 2007, an intercity train took her from Lisbon to the north of the country. "To get to know Portugal, out of curiosity," she says. When she glimpsed the sea at Espinho, she thought she had to stop at the next stop. "When I saw the sea... It's very beautiful. I decided to go. The light, the sea, the environment, the fishermen... such a genuine village." And it was in contact with the village of Aguda that the passion between Úrsula and Portugal began. Inspired by the environment that surrounded her, the artist dedicated herself to figurative art, portraying through painting the simple life of those fishermen. Rebellion and creation Ursula was born 57 years ago in Winterthur into an orthodox family in terms of education. However, Ursula's rebelliousness soon proved to be averse to convention and at the age of 20 she left her parents' home. At that time, Ursula also left behind her Fine Arts studies and headed for an unknown Switzerland. "I went to Switzerland to work in hotels, I did these jobs to survive. I was there for two or three years," she says. The artist studied journalism in Zurich and even practiced in Lucerne. Shortly thereafter, the desire to change her life sounded even louder again and Ursula and her future husband moved to Italy: the idea was to become farmers. And for 19 years that was the life she led. But the will to create, that one, never left her. As life took on different contours, so did her works. If in Italy he used "earth colors, ochers, browns, greens", when he arrived in the north of Portugal his brushes turned more towards "cold tones, the sky, the water, the wind". In Italy it was warmer tones, here it's more blue," he reflects as the cigarette dangles from his fingers and his gaze is lost in the numerous works that line his apartment.