The Dream

The reverse painting on glass exhibited here depicts the jagged, steep mountainsides of the Bergell valley bathed in deep light. Silvia Oeggerli was inspired by the mountains of the Upper Engadine and their remote valleys, where the sun almost never reaches in the depths of winter. The colours were not applied layer by layer using the traditional technique of reverse glass painting. Rather, the artist created shapes and structures by scratching them with a pocket knife into regular, successively applied areas of paint, giving dynamism and tension to the painting. In some places, the layers of paint were applied somewhat transparently, like a watercolour, before being scratched off again. Each new layer influenced the previous layer of paint. Between the many lines, however, the artist needed a calm, clear and “undisturbed” area. This area, together with the colour tone, determines the mood of the entire painting. The work was created in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme chosen by Sylvia Oeggerli reflects the feeling of confinement and isolation that spread during the lockdown.

The artist Sylvia Oeggerli, who has roots in Graubünden, was born in 1939 in St. Gallen, where she received basic artistic training at the Textile and Fashion School in 1956. This was followed a few years later by further training courses at the École Guerre-Lavigne in Paris and at the School of Arts and Crafts in London. Due to her passion for drawing, engraving and painting, she trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva between 1976 and 1980. During this time she worked intensively at the Centre genevois de gravure contemporaine. There followed several very early solo and group exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad. Her works (oil paintings, watercolours, pastels and engravings) are characterised by a vivid colourfulness and themes inspired mainly by nature and the landscape of the Engadine. The discovery of reverse glass painting some forty years ago opened up new horizons for the artist, enabling her to develop a very personal, non-figurative style by combining this technique with that of woodcutting.