“Form is the body. Form is my body. The body is the only way to reach the inner soul. Through the body I access anything that speaks to me. " Elisabeth Moritz.
Elisabeth Moritz (1956) is a painter who grew up in the south of Sweden and moved to Paris at the young age of sixteen. She graduated from the art academy in Paris in 1987; she stayed in Paris until 1997, when she decided to move back to her Swedish hometown Lund. When she moved back to Sweden, she missed the cafes, the little daily exchanges when shopping and the life philosophy transmitted between people.
She draws a lot; it's her way of seeking knowledge about the unknown. Model drawing is her solid foundation from Beaux Arts. Today, she draws other objects than what is right in front of her eyes. A searchlight in the form of thousands of sketches sweeps across her inner landscape, and suddenly, inexplicably, even to herself, she halts and sees something that resonates within her. She develops the form, tries it in different configurations - asking: "How can it have this charge? - What's in it for me? "A range of images can begin like this. She works up the form on large format paper laid out on the floor. One form "feed" the other, focused and determined. She feels that it is as if she wears these forms within herself. Tangible but also enigmatic forms. She strives to make the images as physically tangible as possible.
She often listens to classical music in the studio. Bach, for example, helps to formulate a thought, fragments of a life philosophy. She listens intensely. It can sometimes feel as if the sounds coming from within her. She allows herself to be sensitised, let the music get to work and focuses her attention. Through music, she takes part in a larger context, a greater ensemble.
Sometimes the picture is stronger and takes control over her. The unconscious is stronger than the conscious self. She wants to balance a too rational way of reflection. "There are constant meetings throughout the process.” she says. Then, when the image is complete, she can observe it from the outside, curious, give the interpretations free rein and replace each other on various different levels.