STRABAG Artaward winner Nana Mandl: I don’t throw anything away
Sabine B. Vogel visited the winner of this year's STRABAG Artwards in her studio in Vienna's 15th district.
(C) Nana Mandl
People photograph themselves in reflective surfaces with their smartphones – Nana Mandl won this year’s STRABAG Artaward, endowed with 16,000 euros, with her translations of such motifs into textile images. She captures curious moments in our society in this series.
“I am interested in the here and now, I see it as my artistic task to set points of view,” explains the artist, who was born in Graz in 1991, during a studio visit in the 15th district. There are scraps of fabric on the floor, sewing machines on the tables, paper strips and textile collages hanging on the walls. She works mainly with her own and donated, discarded garments. “I don’t throw anything away,” she explains.
© Nana Mandl
Sorted by color, even the smallest scraps hang neatly next to each other. On the floor of the studio are some new works for her exhibition at the “Perspektiven Attersee” art festival. There she combines motifs from glossy paintings that promise a perfect world with images of explosions in Gaza. The nostalgic, kitschy motifs are printed on fabric, the bombs on paper.
The selfie picture series is also composed of fabrics. This process requires precise planning, she explains. She first transfers her photo templates onto paper, then cuts out individual motifs and has to think very carefully about the sequence. What to start with, what to emphasize? When selecting the fabric, she allows herself freedom in terms of color, adds disruptive elements and often ends up overlaying spontaneously decided remnants, floral motifs or simply color accents.
© Nana Mandl
Some pieces of fabric appear like streaks, others like light reflections – they are image disturbances. This is where the ideal world of carefree self-portrayal is broken. It is important to her not to buy new fabrics for this, “if a color is missing, I dye or bleach the rest”. How does she describe her works, fabric collages? “I see it as painting,” she explains. And adds: “I like playing with surfaces. And superficiality.” That is why the haptic is a key element of her pictures.
A text by Sabine B. Vogel.
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This year, Nana Mandl will open her studio doors to interested visitors as part of the Open Studio Days of VIENNA ART WEEK 2024 on November 9 and 10 from 1 to 6 pm. More information in the VIENNA ART WEEK program.
© Nana Mandl
STRABAG Art Award
Nana Mandl is the winner of the STRABAG Artaward 2024. The STRABAG Artaward International is one of the most highly endowed private art prizes for painting and drawing in Austria: one main prize and four recognitions with a total prize money of € 48,000 are awarded annually. The international art prize is awarded in three-year cycles. Artists from Germany, Slovenia and Austria are invited to participate in the years 2024-2026. Five artistic positions have now been selected from over 850 applications. Klemens Haselsteiner, CEO of STRABAG SE, awarded the prizes on June 27, 2024 at STRABAG Haus Wien.
