Interview with Margaretha Gubernale
Margaretha Gubernale was born in Zug, Switzerland, on June 9, 1941, where she works in her studio Edera. She is widowed and has two adult children Mario and Helena. She held exhibitions worldwide, throughout Europe, in America, in Asia, in Ukraine and in Russia, in 2024, for example, for the third time with the Salon des Indépendants, Art Capital, 2018 and 2020 in Grand Palais, and 2024 in Éphémère, Paris, France. She received a lot of prizes, such as: The 1st prize Margherita Hack 2016 for a solo exhibition in Milan from Spoleto Art and gold medal at the Olympic Fine Art in Beijing China 2008. She is mentioned in many catalogs and art books, 2024 in the Catalogue Future of Art Global, Masterpiece Award by Contemporary Art Magazine.
Could you share the journey of how you developed your global style? What were the key influences, both personal and external, that shaped its evolution from its embryonic stage to the distinctive style we see today?
Even in my early works, I was looking for a way to reach all people in the world with my thoughts, which I only managed with a figurative representation, because abstract painting meant Christ and salami with the same image and only confirmed the viewer's world of thoughts. My painting could not be limited to figurative painting but could not be inferior to the freedom of abstract painting. I also considered the surreal style, but it goes far in the direction I want to take people, but not quite there. So, I looked for a solution, which I found in symbolism. Here I can represent my thoughts figuratively and expand this form metaphysically beyond itself in a parable and thus break all narrative boundaries, weave in abstract and surrealistic elements and reach every thinking person in their soul with the help of colour and form, provided they are of good will to connect the earth with the spiritual heaven and to allow ethics to prevail. See image The Sorcerer's Apprentice (with Goethe)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, 2024, oil on canvas, 70 cm x 100 cm
Nature plays a significant role in your art. How do you balance the tangible representation of natural elements with their deeper symbolic meanings in your compositions? Can you give us insights into this creative process?
I learn a lot from nature and feel the divine in it, which inspires me. In the painting "Forest with Yggdrasil" I show a woman who marvels at nature with the full moon as a symbolic abundance. In the stream of the forest with its realistically painted trees as pioneers and supports of the earth there is a sylph as a symbolic representation of the energy of water. A red lung hangs on the symbolic tree of life as the igniter of the fire. I painted the communicative devotion to nature with blue in general and especially in the woman's dress.
Holy Forest withYggdrasil, 2014, oil on canvas, 100 cmx100 cm
Your work often incorporates philosophical and anthroposophical themes. How do these intellectual explorations manifest in your paintings, and what role do they play in communicating your artistic vision?
In the image Fausta thinks humility, Fausta is sitting behind four books, each book with the symbol of an element. But the 5th is a laptop with the symbol Google, as a place of very extensive, collected and accessible knowledge. Fausta, the female form of Faust, exhorts humility and shows the dangers and the possibility of the destruction of all this valuable good if politics and elsewhere are not dealt with loving humility, because evil is also omnipresent.
Fausta thinks Humility, 2019, oil on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm
Your art bridges classical influences with modern themes, such as technology. How do you navigate this intersection, and what message do you hope to convey by blending these seemingly contrasting elements?
Man has always acquired technical aids which on the one hand helped him, but on the other hand reduced his mental and physical abilities; he thereby created his destiny. Technology is neither good nor bad. It is a blessing or a curse, stimulates human drives and increases their strength, but on the other hand, like a mathematical equation, reduces the outsourced abilities of man himself, be they mental or physical. All technology should be enjoyed with reservations. It embodies outsourced human nature. The image "ripping out roots" is about roots that reach through the earth towards water. Man strives for other planets. But he is still helplessly rooted. In the sand in front of him you can see the shadow of a satellite. We know that many are already parked in space, as well as a lot of junk. Man can now only pray that this garbage does not attract each other, clump together and grow larger, and does not one day thunder over him onto the earth, which he did not know how to protect adequately, because "the spirits he called upon become a burden to him." (Goethe)
Uproot Roots, 2023, oil on canvas, 60 cmx 60 cm
The use of luminous blues and intricate compositions is a hallmark of your work. How do you approach colour as a medium to evoke emotion and convey metaphysical ideas? Could you discuss how this approach has evolved over your career?
A colour, like a tone, is an expression of the soul and arises from feeling. For me, blue means air and intellect and can manifest itself in many facets. It can feed fire into a lamp, it can have an extinguishing effect, it has three states of matter, it is transparent and pure, but it can also be cloudy. Blue expands into lightness as the continuation of light, enveloping and penetrating everything, or it contracts complex compositions through darkness. In early works my blue was less chromatic than now; the nuances developed over time. This is shown very clearly in the pictures Now, and in the picture Widening, where the blue stands out through the green, assertive colour and creates a turquoise.
Widening, 2021, oil on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm
Your works often explore themes of interconnectedness, both within nature and the broader metaphysical realm. How do you translate such complex, abstract concepts into visual forms that resonate with a global audience?
What is important when networking is, that everyone involved harmonizes together and works towards the same goal and uses the same technology and is aligned towards the Great All, which is present but hidden from our minds. Since these issues concern all of humanity, such images are also understood globally. Three examples of networking are: the images Networking, Sound from Universe, The Tank
Now, 2023, oil on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm
Paintings like "Global Aqueduct - My Legacy" comment on humanity's relationship with natural resources. How do you see your role as an artist in addressing ecological concerns and inspiring viewers to reflect on these critical issues?
Water flows in abundance in many places, and in other places there are serious rumours of water privatization. This would be sheer horror, which is why as an artist I offer an alternative of a global aqueduct in the hope that this could be a solution for the future to provide concrete help to the world, because civil life only thrives on the banks of water.
Networking, 2019, oil on canvas, 150 cm x250 cm
In reflecting on your early works, can you pinpoint the moments or creations that you feel were pivotal in the birth of your symbolic-magical style? How did these early experiments inform your later, more mature works?
My early works always had a hint of a magical, symbolic direction, but they moved more in the unconscious, now like in Nietzsche's poem:
To New Seas
“ That’s where I want to go; and I trust me
from now on and my grip.
The sea lies open into the blue
drives my Genoese ship.
Everything shines new and newer to me,
Noon sleeps on space and time -:
Just your eye – tremendous
Look at me, infinity!”
But now my gaze is grounded, although I shudder at the enormity of the infinite! And yet I integrate everything that I want to take spiritually and materially with me on my painting journey to know, tell and complete that heaven and earth connect.
Sound from Universe, 2005, oil on canvas, 280 cm x120 cm
Your art is rich with allegorical meaning and philosophical depth. How do you view the role of the audience in interpreting your work? Do you see their engagement as a continuation of the creative process?
Long before I pick up a pencil, I am already mentally communicating with the future viewer: I lead him to a level that expands infinitely and I demand from him that he adds what he has to it when the work for the world is finished, that after viewing it he can either open up a new perspective through devotion or at least, understands what is apparent.
The Tank, 2020, oil on canvas, 150 cm x250 cm
Looking back on nearly five decades of artistry, what do you consider your most significant contributions to the art world? As you look ahead, what are the goals and aspirations you still wish to achieve through your work?
I can only answer this question as an artist. Each picture has its own themes, which I treat from scratch and incorporate what has been tried and tested through my experience. If I were to name the most important works, I would have trouble doing so, because with every birth of a creation something new and well-integrated emerges, and I then believe that I am creating the best. If this weren't the case, I would stop painting. So, I'm always working on my best work right now, "The 7 Deadly Sins of the Modern World".
Global Aqueduct, 2021, oil on canvas , 100 cm x 100 cm
