Fine Arts, Interviews, Painting
Insightful creations: Werner Szendi
Jun
You can achieve and create everything in life! We create our world through our thoughts, desires, and ideas. This is just the beginning.
The first thing I noticed about Szendi‘s paintings was the deep spirituality in all of with works. He has the talent to create illusions through his art, making art a communication channel between two worlds, our world, and the outer cosmos.
Szendi Werner was born in 1966 in Austria. Since the age of 16, when he first started drawing, he knows what his true calling is; creating art. From pencil sketching to watercolors and acrylics, he has experimented with any given material through his career as an artist.
What astounded me the most was his experience in painting church murals and religious images. He has studied the Old Masters of sacral paintings and his influences from the art world of religion are undoubtful. The divinity is present in every painting he makes, but this “divinity” doesn’t have a name, it doesn’t have a religion, it’s pure spirituality.
Through his art studies in color, he learned how to combine colors and shapes and as you will see for yourselves, he has excelled in creating geometrical patterns on canvas. The energy is flowing along with color and as lines meet one another, intense emotions overwhelm the viewers.
Meet Werner Szendi and his insightful creations…
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Welcome to The ART.gallery, Werner. We are really happy to share your art message with our audience!
Thank you for your interest in my art!
You started creating at the age of 16 – as you share on your personal website. Which was that crucial moment in your life when you realized “It’s my calling, I’m an artist!”?
It was a vacation day when my father was having his afternoon nap on the couch in the kitchen after lunch. I was bored and in 10 minutes I drew my sleeping father’s face in pencil. When he woke up and saw my drawing, he was very impressed; my mother was also enthusiastic about my work. They motivated me to create more drawings of faces and landscapes. After a while, they said that I can draw very well and I should also try something with colors. I took my watercolors and painted my first watercolor paintings.
You were also involved with the creation of sacral paintings for churches. How did you got involved with this type of art and also, what were the things you’ve learned from this experience?
I was an altar boy and our pastor heard about my artistic talent. He said that I should try to paint with oil on wood because he needs such artworks for his churches. He gave me a photo of his home church and said that if I do it well, I will get my first assignment for a sacral painting. I was 19 years old when my first altarpiece was inaugurated in 1985.
The sacral paintings were copies of old masters from books. Through them, I learned many techniques on how to make images powerful, energetic, and unique (e.g. light and shadow techniques, etc.). I wished that maybe one day I could see the originals. The divine leadership wanted me to see originals of my works in the Hermitage (St. Petersburg) and in the Vatican Museum (Rome). There are no coincidences in life.
As an altar boy, I always looked at the wonderful old murals in the churches and admired them. I thought at the time that it’s a pity that the artists who painted it were no longer alive and noticed how their works were admired. For me, it was a worthwhile idea if you managed to have your own works of art exhibited in churches during your lifetime. At that time I never thought that I would become an artist myself. A few years later, my works were hung in some churches around my home town in southern Burgenland (Austria). Since then, I have known that you can create and achieve anything in life. We create our world through our thoughts, desires, and ideas.
I can still see this divinity in your present works. It seems to me that you truly adore and respect the power of the cosmos…
As a Catholic baptized Christian, I respect all religions. As a child, I’ve always thought “why my religion should be better than others?”. I noticed that Catholic priests and believers were not tolerant of other religions, although tolerance was preached. Religions separate people; they talk about peace but are responsible for most wars. I believe in unity; we are all connected.
Religions are subordinate systems that only want to separate people, make them feel guilty and small. Religions strive for power, property, and money. They teach people to look for God somewhere outside. In fact, we should seek and find God in us. We are all divine. We are all united. We are all creators of our world. We are all one. We are all connected.
God – Christians “Father”, Muslims “Allah”, Hindus “Vishnu”, Buddhists “Buddha”, Jews “Lord”, by whatever name, God is in every mineral, every plant, every animal, and every human being. Anything negative we do to others harms us all in reality. We must recognize this and choose to unite our diversities with positivism, tolerance, and love.
You give extensive attention to the symbol of the sphere; tell us more about it in your art and in your mind…
I deal a lot with sacred geometry and the power of symbols. The energy in the universe builds up hologram-like and can be directed through powerful symbols. The spiritual world repeatedly reminds me that I should deal with symbols and use the power in my artworks for the benefit of mankind. The sphere is a symbol that fascinated and magically attracted me as a child. I’ve used it intuitively in most of my works. It was only after years when I was asked that I realized that spheres were already seen as the trademark of my paintings.
INFINITE, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 100 cm
My current virtual 3D exhibition “Magical Spheres” is also dedicated to the magic of the sphere and you can visit it here.
Through your paintings, one can easily understand how important color is in your art. You create magnetic fields playing with shadow and light on the surface of your canvas, and you treat color in such a way to form illusions, like in the illusions with black and gold in your work Black Gold… How do you comprehend color and how do you approach it on your works?
Colors are very important in my art. I love powerful bright colors, but also contrasts, light effects, and magnetic tensions on the canvas. Colors have a very high vibration and you can generate a lot of positive energy by using colors correctly. For years I have been dealing with the effect of colors on people together with my wife. We can see from the dates of birth that colors are important for human development. We give tips on how life can be guided in the right direction by making small changes in the colors. With the power of the right colors and my symbol paintings, we were able to achieve amazing effects.
Your art is all about expressing your feelings or is there a deeper meaning in every painting?
Each artist puts his own feelings in his work. You can touch the viewer with feelings and emotions. But above all, it is important to me that every painting has a meaning, a message. I want to touch the viewer with my art and inspire them to think with the texts that I write for every artwork. My goal is for my art to be a small bridge between heaven and earth, between the visible and the invisible.
You are based in Austria, but you have exhibited your works in both solo and group shows from China to Mexico… Which are some of the milestones in your career as an artist?
The first milestone in my career as an artist was the oil paintings that I painted for churches in southern Burgenland. The highlight was the inauguration of my first altarpiece in 1985. I then did many exhibitions in Austria and evolved not only personally but also in painting. In 2009 I presented my pictures abroad for the first time (Turkey, Dubai, Italy). An important event was the Kidsart Festival in Tanzania/Africa, where I painted together with over 1,000 children under the motto “childhood dreams.”
Another milestone is the presentation of my works in two museums in China in 2020. I am currently also presenting my works of art via a virtual 3D gallery in order to bring my paintings closer to more people, especially at a time when no museums or public exhibitions can be visited.
Your themes and art styles vary; from a realistic landscape to a deep spiritual spiral and a chaotic abstract burst of color. One of your works that got my undivided attention was Tor Zur Unendlichkeit/Gateway to infinity. Could you tell us more about this work?
The subjects of life and death, transition, transformation, and change can always be found in my art. I was also allowed to accompany people to their deaths and learn a lot about near-death experiences. I am not afraid of death. We are all here on earth to learn, gain experience, and develop our consciousness. From the finiteness of life here on earth we walk through many gates of change and transformation to infinity.
As an artist, I want to be an intermediary between the worlds, between heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible.
Art as a tool to find (inner) peace and freedom… It looks like your paintings are all about those virtues…
Looking at a painting can lead us into another reality, can invite us to meditate and stay silent; we forget everyday life and dive into a world of artistic freedom. This enables us to find inner peace. My images radiate positive energy, harmony, and warmth through the power of symbols. I want to touch the viewer deeply in his soul and spirit and be a trigger for changes in his life.
What are your plans for the future? Have you scheduled any upcoming shows?
I want to paint even more powerful, energetic pictures, and continue my worldwide exhibitions. My current show is in the Hong Art Museum in Chongqing, China, and runs until mid-June 2020. After that, I have another exhibition planned in another museum in China. Numerous other countries are still on my exhibition list. I would also like to continue doing virtual 3D exhibitions in parallel.
There are still many things to do… galleries, museums, art auctions… You can achieve and create everything in life! This is just the beginning.
Thank you! We wish you the best on your upcoming projects!
Thank you! All the best wishes to you!
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