Ula Einstein’s work is, in a word, ephemeral. While it looks impressive in photos, they are also somewhat deceptive by failing to capture its intricacies: filmy layers, delicate threading, fine surface slices or topography-like depth. If you have the pleasure to view her work in person, it beckons you to move closer, to reach out and touch. From inches away, you discover that lines are actually a string of stitches, and dots are really tiny holes burned into the paper. Unlike some artists, Ula’s work doesn’t confront you; you must come to it to appreciate her precision and interpret her use metaphor.

Originally from Switzerland, Ula (oo-lah) has called New York City home for years. However, she doesn’t consider herself a ’stereotypical New Yorker’: “home is wherever I am.” Her true passion is singing, which is what brought her to NYC in the first place. In every creative endeavor, she is unique and experimental: two qualities that are evident in her art today.

Renewal IV, mixed media sculpture installation ©Ula Einstein 2010

Ula is a self-taught, multi-disciplinary artist and considers herself a “builder and alchemist.” Her work verges between the canvas and sculpture and is often site-specific. She employs a variety of media including fabric, Tyvek, paper, thread, wire, balloons, masking tape and papier-mâché. She also incorporates “found objects” such as eggshells, blueprints and human hair, which she collected from a local salon. Once incorporated in her work, these materials take on a life of their own: Tyvek looks like leather, gauze imitates the texture of canvas and eggshells take on the appearance of shards of glass.

Ula struggles with some of society’s stereotypes concerning women and craft. She “draws” with thread; she is not a seamstress. Some of her media of choice, such as eggshells, are ripe with the symbolism of fertilization and birth, but she uses them in a way that reveals their fragility and the connotation of emotional ‘rebirth’, as exemplified by The Unwinding Destiny Project. For this installation, Ula imprinted meaningful words and phrases on outside of the eggshells, but she keeps her technique a secret.

Though some observers have referred to her work as “feminine,” an adjective that makes her cringe, Ula’s work process can actually be quite “violent” as one curator pointed out. She uses blades to slash canvases, burns holes in Tyvek and rice paper and punctures un-inflated balloons with needle and thread. Her work is permeated by paradoxes: “empty/full, conceal/reveal, shadow/light, pain/beauty, fracture/whole, static/movement.”

Free Will? text on broken shells ©Ula Einstein 2009

Not one to waste, Ula recycles material left over from one project by incorporating it in another. For a recent piece, she used left-over paper cut-outs to build a topographical inverse of the original project. This exploration of ‘positive’ vs. ‘negative’ space is a theme that resonates throughout her work. “In the West, ‘negative space’ has a bad connotation,” she says, but her European background provided her a with a more positive perspective. It is the tension between objects and emptiness that makes her work so dynamic.

Hybrid In(ter)vention, mixed media ©Ula Einstein 2008

Art vs. Architecture
Given the sculptural nature of her work, it’s no surprise that Ula is fascinated with architecture. She has rescued vellum architectural drawings from the curb and cut, woven and reinvented them into her own works of art. The theme of ‘windows’ also repeats throughout her work; these apertures lighten the volumes of sculptures and reveal layers in seemingly one-dimensional drawings.

One day while passing by the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Center for Architecture, she dropped in on a lecture that was, serendipitously, about the need for architects to reach out beyond the profession. After connecting with AIA members, Ula was invited to join a panel discussion concerning the overlaps and differences between art and architecture. While it was intimidating to present to a room of architects, Ula was one of the most successful panelists because she spoke about the non-linear process of making of art in everyday language. For her, art is a hands-on process that often takes a life of its own.

Collapsing Forward, sculptural installation detail: fire, rice paper, wire, ©Ula Einstein 2010

Process
As typical for NYC artists, Ula’s studio and apartment is one in the same. To structure her days, she began keeping a free-flow journal in the morning, reflecting on images, colors and textures she has observed that ultimately form the basis for some of her pieces. Since she often works in fragments, Ula can take these pieces with her to a park or Whole Foods’ cafe for a change of scenery. Often people react and respond to her work with interest. Once, two women became so fascinated by Ula’s project that they asked to help and worked with her for four hours!

Current Work
After a few successful years exhibiting at major galleries, the recession hit. Ula knew she needed to adapt, so she began creating smaller, affordable works and sells them on Facebook and Etsy [http://www.etsy.com/shop/ulaeinstein]. These bite-size pieces are “ready for pop culture consumption,” she explains, but she hasn’t compromised her signature look. About ten years ago, she came up with the concept “Stop holding your breath,” but it never found a place in her work. However, in the recession atmosphere, it’s a concept with which many people can relate.

No Formula black/red threaded text message on hand cut paper drawing ©Ula Einstein 2010

Stop Holding Your Breath threaded text on balloons ©Ula Einstein 2009

On the other end of the spectrum, Ula recently sold work to the President of Tiffany and Co. at a showing in New Jersey. Later he and his wife made an impromptu visit to her studio and purchased several more pieces. Obviously, Ula’s work made quite an impression: he mentioned her as one of his favorite artists in an interview with Italian Life Style Magazine.

>Written by d/visible contributor Murrye Bernard.

For more information on Ula Einstein, check out her blog at http://ulaeinstein.com/.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 2:20 pm and is filed under In-depth, Culture, Interview, Art & Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.