Ann Toebbe

What stands out about Ann Toebbe’s artwork is how it all seems to belong to another world- a world without or within dimensions. Her painting and paper cuts look as if they may have been part of a diorama that is now splayed out creating depth and a visual vertex view.

A peripheral glance could  assume these paintings belong in a children’s story book. Ms. Toebbe creates her works from memory and as a result developed what she describes as “awkward and flat” drawings which then lead to her “playing with perspective.” Her trained eye and mastered hand tell stories of her childhood as well as frozen moments in time. She created a series of painting using stained glass windows inspired by the church she grew up attending. Her work Red Plastic Plates commemorates her husband having dinner at her parents’ house for the first time and them insisting on using disposable dishware and cutlery.

From an interview with Ms. Toebbe she is quoted as saying: I paint because I am not good at complicating things or complicated things, like conceptual art or video. I like painting because it is about getting things organized. I paint from memory and I use the routines, repetitions and sameness of everyday life as inspiration because the more time I spend in place, the better I can remember it.

A. Toebbe's website: http://anntoebbe.com/index.php

Interview with Ms. Toebbe: http://www.diskursdisko.de/2009/03/interview-ann-toebbe