Juanita Pöhl
In love with colour
Like the Fauvists, I am intrigued by the expressive potential of colour. There is freedom in disregarding the 'accurate' use of colour.
"An artist must never be a prisoner. A prisoner?
An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of his reputation, etc."
- Henri Martisse
Colour flows when you let go of expectation.
Juanita is a South African born artist who put her hands to wire for the first time when she moved to Australia 5 years ago. She has developed a sculpting technique in which she "sews" wire into a rough shape by hand, before she reaches for the pliers to work hundreds and thousands of little twists and curls into the wire to create the desired form. She loves to invite people to touch her sculptures, as feeling the texture of the twisted wire aids in the visual experience.
Juanita is the Artist in Residence at Suffoir Winery in Macarthur, Victoria, where many of her paintings and sculptures are currently on display. She has won the inaugural Best Sculpture Award at the 2020 Victor Harbor Art show and the People's Choice Award at the 2022 Cavendish Red Gum Festival.
"While portrait painting has always fascinated me, I'm surprised at how fulfilling it is to do sculpting. It is the very physical, direct – and yes, even harsh – contact with the wire that I find exhilarating. I simply love the hands-on approach that wire-sculpting offers; it’s like I’m painting 3-dimensionally with my hands as the brushes."