The pictures of Charlotte Acklin are explorations in unknown territory, search for traces under the surface, remembrance of the hidden, of the unseen. Layers are applied, changed, removed and re-worked again and again and layer by layer.

The work process is an elaborate exploration of form, texture and color effect. Layers stand side by side, and are superimposed at the same time; they follow tectonic principles deeply imprinted in the layers. The materials are oil, coal and Graphite dust. With brushes and spatulas the image is built up, covered and exposed again, and so composed up to the surface. The traces of the work remain visible as the scars.

This approach allows the viewer to participate in the development process. The subsoils and their layers remain present in their three-dimensional structure, almost translucent and visible also where they are covered. The power and the violence of the original deep layers push up, put the surface in movement, in the distant view as well as in the closest proximity.

There are no longer any closed surfaces to be formed. Through all breaks and lines, the perceptible internal vibration acts in the subsoil ever stronger. She puts the extending far beyond the edges of the image, and demands space and depth. A secret remains, without rigid definition the images interact with the viewer. They radiate energy; being fine and densely woven, they are at the same time of great strength.

© Manuel Esser, filmmaker and producer, Munich