Reading Traces

If you ask artist Ines Buff about the theme of her paintings, she will probably say that they are about people and the traces their actions leave behind. These are the traces of the past that shape our present, whether consciously perceived as such or as sublime ghosts of history, as well as the imprint that our present path through the world forms with every step we take—and perhaps even the harbingers of the future, which, in a reversal of cause and effect, cast a shadow before it manifests itself. In doing so, the artist explores life itself in all its facets and contradictions, more than anything else. The motifs sometimes show seemingly simple scenes from everyday life, but often they are complex compositions that need to be deciphered and can be read in many different ways.

Just as traces overlap over time and constantly reform into a soundtrack of the moment, Ines Buff's images emerge as collages of different techniques, materials, and pictorial elements. She combines canvas, paper, and textiles, painting, embroidering, printing, and collaging, deliberately integrating old materials as traces of the past. Born in Ilmenau, Thuringia, in 1966, the artist now lives and works in Breitungen in the southern Harz region. Numerous traces of the various elements of her diverse working method can be found early on in her life. She first studied clothing technology and then worked as a technologist and later as a designer in toy production. At the age of 31, she started her own business, first as an airbrush designer for a good 10 years, then with a tattoo studio. In 2011, she returned to education and studied the basics of painting at the Art Academy in Trier. Today, she works as a freelance artist, her works are regularly shown in exhibitions and are represented in various collections.

More about the artist: Ines Buff's artist page