I like to capture the peculiar and stranger instances in life, people in their most private moments when they do not feel observed and can therefore be totally themselves – uncovered and honest. In portraying the comicalities of human beings, it is more often than not, that one achieves a new dimension of dignity.”
Lydia Hoffnungsthal aims to intrigue, amuse and uplift the viewer. Dynamic movements and energy are captured with moving parts (as in her “Swinging Wave”). She has a deep fascination with texture – and seeks to obtain tension in her work by incorporating local raw materials into her paintings - such as hessian sack cloth woven with silk, pure pigments contrasted with oil colours, fine cloth stitched with rough string, clay, sand, bamboo and even freshly sown grass! The result is that Lydia’s work is animated, witty radiating humor and vitality.
During her art studies she spent subsequently ten years working as a colour artist at Cologne Cartoon– the award-winning animation company, working on films such as Santas’s First Christmas and Petzi Bear – developing skills and techniques combining colour and movement – elements that are evident in her work today.
In 1996, in search of new inspiration, sunshine and a simplified more “real” lifestyle, she moved from her homeland Germany to Mallorca in the Balearic Islands. Buying a derelict house on a plot of land without electricity or running water, it was back to nature for Lydia, her husband, and daughter who lived in a tent for several months and used water from a local well whilst the renovations were taking place!
They live there to this day with their 22 year-old horse (who they brought over from Germany), their cats and chickens.
