Bettina Blohm Discusses Her Modernist Painting Practice and Influences from Abstract Expressionism to Asian Art

Bettina Blohm's paintings synthesize influences from Modernist traditions and Asian art, creating abstract landscapes that distill emotion. Her work draws on Abstract Expressionist scale and Matissean color, while also reflecting her engagement with Asian landscape painting and Japanese American artist Miyoko Ito. Blohm, who moved to New York in 1984 after art school in Munich, describes her early tree paintings as having an Expressionist fervor, with urban trees appearing human due to chopped branches. She notes that her later figural works, such as 'Where Are They Going?' from 1992, emerged during the first Gulf War and convey feelings of hopelessness. Blohm's drawing practice focuses on mark-making without color, valuing its directness and honesty, akin to Classical Chinese landscape painting. She contrasts her European background, which instilled a sense of painting's long history and the world's precarious nature, with her experience in New York, where she appreciated the city's chaos and gender equality. Over her 20-year career, Blohm has maintained a commitment to painting amid contemporary trends, criticizing the commercialization of artists and academic art education. She links art movements to political environments, citing John Currin's aesthetic as tied to George Bush's politics. Blohm travels to Germany 2-3 times yearly for shows, balancing both worlds in her practice.