The water lily pond with its beautiful blossoms and leaves on the surface of the

Water so clear as a symbol of the longing for beauty, purity and order,

In contrast, there is the fascination with what lies behind it – in this case, underneath, beneath the

Water surface - not clearly visible: roots, intertwined chaos.

The view of flowers, water and roots is held by masharabiyas (with

(Ornamented harem windows made of wood) opened, guided - limited.

The recurring themes in my artwork are: nature and architecture -

Origin, being and becoming, and the confrontation with the mutability of the

The expression of color through the environment can also be found in the one in Basel in the summer of 2005.

the resulting 5-part cycle Masharabiya and Waterlily in the combination of

architectural elements and the natural shapes of the flowers and leaves.

Masharabiya and Waterlily is the seventh series of ornamental collages, which I created in 2004 as

I have developed my artistic form of expression.

For the ornamental collages, I use papers painted with acrylic paint. This is how they are created.

Various painterly structures exist within the collage. Although the collage technique

Although initially conveying a graphic impression, the images are vivid and poetic.

In combination with foils, newspaper scraps, found papers (silver foil in mashrabiya)

and waterlily) I develop the color scheme and the arrangement of the individual shapes in

my idea. Through trying things out, defining them, changing them, discarding them and

The ornamental collages are created by redefining the design.

In the cycle Masharabiya and Waterlily, the area distribution is determined by an

Masharabiya-esque grids. Within the Masharabiya grid, the

Water lilies (water lilies) as whole flowers or as a suggestion of the flowers in combination

with depictions of leaves and roots.

The color scheme - colorful flowers, green leaves, blue water, mud-colored roots,

Brown masharabiyas, silver glittering wetness in the light - corresponds to what we really

can see.

The individual shapes are cut by hand, and the entire composition grows from

themselves. Due to the irregularity, the Masharabiya lattices appear as if they were made by

gently moved back and forth by the movement of the water in the water lily pond.

Francesca Meier, May 2005