Breathing in Green

In her paintings, Andrea Kassens explores the relationship between the inner world, perception and space. In multi-layered, partly fragmented interiors, she depicts female figures who appear both present and distant – as if they were moving through an in-between state. Photographic references, her own photographs and spontaneous sketches serve as her source material, which she then overlays, shifts and refracts through her painting. These overlays give rise to pictorial spaces that cannot be clearly assigned to any one reality, but rather exist in a state of limbo between observation, memory and imagination.

A key feature of her more recent works is her experimental approach to colour and light. Kassens employs an intense, luminous colour palette that lends the scenes an emotional temperature and goes far beyond a purely decorative effect. In her work, colours enter into dialogue – sometimes in harmony, sometimes in deliberate tension. The strong contrasts create tension, direct the viewer’s gaze and establish an atmosphere reminiscent of cinematic lighting. Reflections, distortions and cinematic lighting effects transform everyday spaces into visually evocative worlds in which reality and projection merge.

In terms of content, Kassens’ images revolve around what happens between figures, spaces and inner states. These are rarely unambiguous actions, but rather moments of the in-between: a gaze that wanders; a gesture that hints at something; a space that reveals more about the figure than the figure itself. Her works explore how the interior and the exterior can merge – what becomes perceptible when a figure stands in a space, and, at the same time, what eludes the direct gaze. 

The female figure, which often took centre stage in her earlier works, has now become part of a larger framework in which atmosphere, colour and composition are just as significant as the person depicted. With her photographic sensibility, she creates works that feel familiar whilst simultaneously carrying a subtle sense of strangeness. Her images invite the viewer to linger within them, to discover layers and to project their own imagination into the open narrative spaces that she deliberately leaves undefined.

Exhibitions:

2022: “Andrea Kassens”: Osnabrück Culture Night

2026: Exhibition at the Kulturbunker Bonn (Hans Riegel Foundation)

- Exhibition at the Schytz Haaning Gallery, Vejle

- 1000Freund Gallery, Cologne

Awards

2024: Art grant for Atelier D3 from the Ingeborg Sieber Foundation  

2024: Art grant from the Inge Römer Foundation