Gudrun Ebeling
Portrait Artist
Portrait Painting of People & Animals
I am interested in the essence behind the outward appearance
I am searching for uniqueness, for that moment when a person’s character becomes apparent.
In people, I am impressed by identity, upbringing and role models.
In animals, it is character, dignity and personality that fascinate me.
The face is an artistic masterpiece of nature
In a small space, it reveals immense diversity and intensity of spiritual and mental uniqueness. For me, the face is the expression of the entire person – shaped by all the experiences and individual characteristics of the soul. It is the place where the inner world, the essence of every living being, manifests itself.
Visual Artist
Gudrun Ebeling
Artist’s statement
At the dawn of all possibilities
My artworks link the stories of antiquity with the present day and ask the question: to what extent have we actually freed ourselves from traditional role models today?
The female figures of ancient mythology, the Bible, and from myths and legends continue to shape our thinking to this day. We know many of them as seductresses, cruel monsters or perpetrators. Yet they were not born that way. I am interested in the lives of these women before power, violence, social expectations and constraints began to dictate who they were meant to be.
They were children and young women – with talents, dreams and a future full of possibilities. It was only later that they were punished, humiliated, cursed or turned into what we know them as today. I wonder who they might have become if they’d been allowed to follow their own path?
This exploration has given rise to a series of portraits of women from antiquity. I juxtapose these images with portraits of young people today. They, too, are at the beginning of their lives. They, too, are growing into role models that dictate how they should look, think, feel or live. The forms have changed, but the pressure to fulfil expectations and please others, to have to conform, remains.
I am fascinated by the moment when a person is still completely true to themselves – with their curiosity, their vulnerability, their talents and their unique personality. This moment is infinitely precious. For at the very beginning of a life, everything is still possible.
My portraits bridge the past and the present. They pose the timeless question: Who would we be if we were free to develop as we wished, allowed to discover our natural and precious selves, and did not have to learn to conform and please others?
My art springs from my personal life experiences and my search for the human being at the very beginning of all possibilities.
Every work of art is created with the utmost care and attention to detail. Combining exceptional craftsmanship with timeless elegance, these portraits are designed to stand the test of time.
At the dawn of all possibilities.
This ongoing series of portraits is dedicated to female figures from antiquity and tells their stories from a new perspective – before the violence, before the punishment and before the roles to which they were reduced.
Current work series
Medusa – completed
Cassandra – in progress
Circe – in progress
