Women Cinemakers meets
Dascha Esselius Lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden
I am a multidisciplinary artist. My artwork consists of films, photographs, paintings, sculptures, public art and video installations, the last of which are almost immaterial, created by ever changing projections on layers of thin transparent veils all around the spectators. My first film, which was in 16 mm and commissioned by Swedish Television in 1984, was based on the first of these cinematic installations, at that time created with animated feeds of slide projections of handmade images. I strongly believe in the visual language which moves me and is the starting point of all my cinematic creations. I see my films as paintings or sculptures build with compound time flows of colour, shape, light and sound. They are not, therefore, narrative stories in the traditional sense. I want the audience to open their minds and regard the films as projection screens for their own inner worlds or as stimulants to emerge their own stories. I use the ambiguity of perception to fill the objective reality with parallel meanings in the field of tension between the fantastic and the realistic documentary. In my work I often refer to different art historical periods. It’s my way of saying hi to the artists who have acted before me
An interview by Francis L. Quettier and Dora S. Tennant womencinemaker@berlin.com Hello Dascha and welcome to : we would like to introduce you to our readers with a couple of questions regarding your background. You began your artistic career as self taught painter: you later studied Sculpture at the University College of Arts Crafts and
Design and then you nurtured your education in the field of Stage Design at The University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre, and you later had the chance to attend further courses: how did these experiences influence your evolution as a multidisciplinary artist? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct the trajectory of your artistic research? To me, art is a tool for managing and understanding life.