It was almost eight months to the day that I returned to my studio after the accident that changed my life. July 2014 was momentous; it marked the beginning of life without him. And so "Nushi" was born; it was the term of endearment for my late husband Hans.
"Nushi" is neither morbid nor sad; it is a love story, stories of memories, companionship, passion but most of all love. At the time I had no idea how important this new body of work would be to my recovery.
A fellow artist viewed the work and came out with one word: duende" It doesn't translate easily into English; it loosely means having soul, a heightened state of expression, authenticity. Heart. It is the fiery spirit behind a performance that stirs both performer and audience.
An old maestro of the guitar once said "the "duende" is not in the throat, the "duende" climbs up inside you, from the soles of your feet. It is not the matter of ability but of panache.
Artists typically paint in a particular style using varied colours; most unusually in "Nushi" there are various applications in one palette. At the back of my mind was Hans' catch phrase "united we stand divided we fall" and united this work is through colour and sense of water honouring his axiom.
My dialogue in previous bodies of work has habitually been water and "Nushi" is no exception.
The colours that encapsulated Hans were every shade of blue, especially turquoises with a dash of lemon. My studio for the last year has been filled only with these shades and a smidgen of pink for his warm heart and smile the stories and emotions flowed easily.
Rather than selecting a name for each painting, "Nushi" is numbered in Roman numerals. A Nushi image is not what one sees but the way in which one sees it - a way in which one responds to an image, responding to its pure essence without being manipulated by a premeditated title.
As my soul regained its strength, "Nushi" grew. Each moment of the creative process my senses were engaged more fully with richer and more focussed awareness. My soul grew, although it's difficult to define the soul. Perhaps it is that thing that allows an experience to become a meaningful event, as it carries with it the ability to communicate love.
Love. That's what Nushi is all about. Not just for Hans, but for life.
Jacqueline Tiepermann (2015)