Kira Speiser

Anyone who still paints landscapes – or returns to painting them – will almost certainly give serious thought to a great artistic tradition. For Kira, whose family and cultural roots are in Denmark, the tradition in question is that of Nordic painting – a term that covers a development extending from Friedrich to Munch and Kiefer. The concept of Nordic painting holds no ideological connotations today, but is not at all precise in art-historical terms. However, this is immaterial in the sense that Kira does not cite other painters, even if her work does evoke more or less obvious associations with great role models. Visible reality is always Kira’s model, be it the reality of a natural landscape or that of a cityscape.

Kira produces fascinating paintings on large aluminium plates, using mainly an airdrying ceramic paint which enables her to work directly on the aluminium surface. She applies the colour in various levels bringing the metallic background into play. Her repertoire includes forests of all seasons, coastal landscapes from her Danish homeland and views of the city from the time she spent in Madrid and London.

The mostly large works of Kira reflect the light through the “ leaks” of the paint, where the metal shines through, and thus produces more space. Kira draws inspiration from her immediate surroundings. “ I choose a location that I photograph and then sketch. I play with the images, cut them up and put them together again – this is how these mystical forest landscapes are created. She paints what touches her and what captivates her. “That is why my pictures are actually very personal as they tell a scene of my life.”