ARTIST STATEMENT
Cordula Volkening has been working as an artist and designer for 35 years. "In Meinem Wilden Herzen" is her second show at BAG. It is named for a Rilke poem and roughly translates from German as "in my wildest/bravest heart."

Cordula was diagnosed with advanced brain cancer last September. She has undergone two rounds of brain surgery and is currently in an experimental clinical trial. The tumor has impaired her ability to speak, but as her friend photographer Stefan Falke says, the effects of the cancer and the treatments have "not kept her from continuously creating great art."

Cordula was born and raised in Germany and has lived in Brooklyn since 1985. She holds a degree in fine art from the School of Art and Design in Kiel, Germany. She has had solo and group shows and has won fellowships and various awards for her work. Her first show at Brooklyn Artists Gym took place last December and was called "YOU: Would you like an invitation to my destination?" She is the owner of Living Art Space, a design and construction management firm.

Cordula considers her style to be "a unique kind of visual storytelling ... My work as an artist is to supply language that is unpretentious and allow stories to be told without using tried-out recipes. Once the visuals are created, I become a viewer just like anybody else and surrender to the unique response that each visual solicits."

My work as an artist is to supply language that is unpretentious and allow stories to be told without using tried-out recipes. Once the visuals are created, I become a viewer just like anybody else and surrender to the unique response that each visual solicits.

ARTIST STATEMENT
My passion for art began at a very young age with a healthy exposure to all the great artists throughout history through frequent visits to the museums and galleries. As a result of my exposure, I began to work with oils at age thirteen with a focus towards landscapes. As my love for the medium grew, I found that painting in larger scales allowed me to truly utilize my energy toward my work. While studying at New York University with a focus in studio art, I began to take my work to a more non-subjective level as my focus changed from the subject matter to the actual medium itself which has been the theme of my art ever since. Since then, in addition to oil and acrylic, I use several other materials and surfaces at my disposal.

Some of my favorite techniques when painting in oil are the use of thick expressive brush strokes, combining various rich colors to create a harmonious composition. Other times I work in thin washes going over them with a transparent glaze adding a muted effect to my composition. When working with acrylics on a large scale, one of my favorite techniques is to pour a thin wash of a color and maneuver the canvas to where I like the paint to go. This past year I have had the privilege of showing my work in various galleries and special events around New York.

Art, in my perspective and the ability to create, is not only an emotional or physical experience, but also one of intellect and spirituality. In my experience as an artist, I've come to learn that it is the medium that truly defines the work. The word "medium" itself is one that pertains to being in-between or "in the middle". Whether it is paint or any other material, it is what acts as the intermediary between the artist and the viewer, a diverse and powerful language unto itself with a limitless vocabulary. Whether there is a subject matter in the work or whether it is in the abstract realm, each stroke, each dab of color, it is not only telling the viewer about what the artist feels, but also what he or she feels. I feel inspired when the viewer points out an aspect in the work that differs from what I see in it, contributing to an atmosphere of creativity and connecting. In essence, I view the physical completion of the work as only part of he process as the main element of the composition is the ongoing communication and sharing between the artist and the viewer.