BIOGRAPHY

Dr Mareike Gronwald is a German-born emerging artist and sociologist living on unceded Dharug and Gundungurra land in the Blue Mountains, exploring sociological questions through artistic practice.​

 

Mareike has always had a strong passion for art, drawing and painting from an early age. However, her desire to learn about how human societies function led her into the world of academia where she was working as a sociologist in national and international research projects in Hamburg and Mannheim. Mareike obtained a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Mannheim in 2013.

 

In 2014, Mareike moved from Berlin to Australia, becoming a full-time mother, working casually as a German language teacher in the Blue Mountains community. ​More recently, painting has become more than just a secondary occupation.

 

Mareike’s art is strongly influenced by her ongoing interest in sociological questions, specifically the role, acknowledgement and perception of women (and as woman identifying) in society as well as their Gefühlswelten (sensorial and emotional experiences) and the spiritual connection with nature providing solace, healing and a feeling of belonging.​ From an art-historical perspective Mareike has been inspired by the painters of German expressionism (“Die Bruecke”, “Blauer Reiter”) who reflected on societal and political questions in their art while also dealing with the spiritual relationship between human beings and nature expressing emotions and internal processes through colour and form. ​

 

Mareike is  working mainly with water colours and acrylics from her home in Blackheath, exploring and experimenting with different degrees of abstraction and the intuitive finding of organic shapes and images revolving around nature, emotions and human-spiritual connections.​​