“Observationes” original drawings | pencil on laid paper
The artist Herta Seibt de Zinser was born in a suburb of Lima in Peru. Her first childhood memories lead her to a large, enchanting garden. She developed a very special gift for observation – and a love for the infinite shapes and smells of this fascinating variety of plants.
Herta Seibt de Zinser studied sculpture at the Facultad de Arte, Art Academy of the Universidad Católic del Perú (PUCP). Soon after completing her training, she taught herself and took on teaching assignments for fine art and ceramics.
The artist, who lives in Freiburg (Germany) for many years now, begins her working days with “observaciones”, or observations. This is what she calls her pencil drawings. Depending on the season, she brings flowers, leaves, or twigs into the house early in the morning and devotes herself to them with her pencil in quiet concentration. Sometimes we immediately recognize their form. Sometimes she shows us these beauties in an unusual form. This may be a detail or a particular shape. Suddenly the transitions become fluid, from the plant kingdom to the physiognomy of animals and humans. A beechnut appears to us like a face. A leaf resembles the snout of an animal. Even tiny details that she can only discover with a magnifying glass are captured.
With her works of art, Herta Seibt de Zinser succeeds in appealing to our enthusiasm and relationship to the infinite variety of natural phenomena in the most beautiful way. She herself sees her works as a tribute to creation, magnificent nature, which we easily overlook in everyday life and take for granted.
Eva Mueller | Art Consultant
Curator of the Koenigshof Collection
VITA HERTA SEIBT DE ZINSER (short form)
1955 born in Lima, Perú | 1972-79 Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), Facultad de Arte, Sculpture with Prof. Anna Maccagno | 1977 Prize of the Instituto de Cultura Italiano ‘Antonio Raimondi’ | 1980-81 Universidad Católica del Perú – Facultad de Pedagogía | 1978-82 Teaching art and ceramics in Lima | Since 1982 Teaching art and ceramics in Freiburg | 1989 Member of the Professional Association of Visual Artists | 2001-04 Working stay in Lima, Perú, teaching assignment at the Universidad Católica del Perú, Facultad de Arte | since 2012 Lecturer at the Edith Maryon Sculpture School, Freiburg
WORKS IN PUBLIC SPACES (selection)
Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima | Museo de la Nación, Lima | Volksbank Breisgau Markgräflerland eG, Gewerbepark Breisgau | Regierungspräsidium Freiburg