Biography
"We fill pre-existing forms and when we fill them we change them and are changed."
Borges and I, Frank Bidart
My current work is called "reclaim" which means to restore to a previous natural state, to rescue or salvage, or to take back or to repossess.
This latest work revolves around transforming over 100 of my primary and secondary school notebooks and textbooks into seed-like or wood-like sculptures and installations, Through this work, I am exploring the question of education and knowledge, the weight of history and the ambiguity of education both opening doors, but also demanding responsibility.
This project also involves paintings and drawings in which I am exploring the ambiguity of history, emotions, and the ambiguity of our perceptions.
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Born in Switzerland, Naomi Middelmann moved to New York in 1989. After earning a degree in Creative writing and International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, she worked in publishing in New York. In 2002, she moved back to Switzerland and studied first stained glass at the Ecole Supérieure de Création et de Vitrail in Monthey and then earned a visual art degree from the Visual Art School in Basel in 2009.
Middelmann turned to the visual arts when she stopped being able to write. Being raised in a mixed cultural family and speaking several languages, words were always an inarticulate translation of experience and culture. Her artwork is raw and necessarily expressive. She enjoys the direct physical contact with the material, often working with her hands and mostly on the floor. Her process is one of building up and tearing away, seeking most importantly an authentic expression of an experience that exists beyond words.
She works with bitumen, ash, oil paint, acrylic, charcoal, collage, sand, coffee, dirt, paper, canvas, etc.
In 5 years, her work has been shown in over 17 exhibits throughout Switzerland (including 9 solo shows). She is a member of the Swiss Artist Association (VISARTE).
She currently lives and works in Lausanne, Switzerland.
