At first I just wanted to take a class with her. Then I had the idea to introduce the artist here. When I told Britta Kuth of my blog project, she was just on fire. So we met spontaneously for a coffee. Here is my first artist portrait.
Britta Kuth discovered her passion for mosaic art while studying history of art.
“I was fascinated by the mosaic works by artists of the modern classics such as Chagall and Braque and I just started to make mosaics.”
The first project was “Polterherzen” small mementos of the stag-loving couples. Today she manufactures on contract work, participates in charity projects like the Butterfly Project and enjoys travelling to get new inspiration. Her works are exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, as currently under “Grenzeloos – Grenzenlos”.
The art historian lives with her family in Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne. And bridges the gap between theory and practice: In addition to her work as a mosaic artist, she is a freelance writer and lectures on historical and contemporary mosaic art.
Currently Britta especially likes working with mixed media. “Mostly I have noticed only after some work where the journey goes. It was the same with this work. I realized that they put old and new in relation – both through the use of various materials, as well as on the level of content.”
In “Tradition”, designed for the French project “Rondeurs et Fées Mères” about birth and pregnancy, “the old” is the quote of a rite: “In both primitive and sophisticated peoples it is tradition to give away jewelry for birth”, says the artist. The ring bears the birth of her oldest daughter, Marie Jeanne.
© Britta Kuth
“The project includes works from various artistic media such as mosaic art, photography and poetry. They all reflect the cultural-historic perspective, the changes in motherhood. ”
The interdisciplinary project was initiated by a plastic artist, a photographer, a poet and an art historian. International mosaic artists were called upon to contribute with their work. Selected submissions appeared together with the works of the founders in a photo book which is available here.
Another work of her series “Mixed Media” was named after the famous Artist Drive in Death Valley, California. The iridescent colors of the rock walls that surround a 15-kilometer desert road shine in red, orange, yellow, green and other beautiful colors.
© Allie Caulfield
© Britta Kuth
The beauty of the original is owed to deposits of oxides and copper which best unfold in the evening sun.
“The color palette of the Smalti used in my work comes from the famous Berlin firm Puhl and Wagner, which was unfortunately closed in 1969.” It was a pleasure, she says, to arrange the iridescent tones on the wood Fund of Death Valley. “It has taken more than two years before I found an object that was worth to use these beautiful old smalti.”
Even furniture design and interior trends are reflected in the work of the artist. “The Swan” from the series “Living in a Box” quotes one of the most famous chairs by Arne Jacobsen in 1958.
The motif is embedded in a modern interior that accommodates elements of the British designer Tricia Guild. “The work is the beginning of a series of mosaics on classics and living.” The crate, a discarded drawer, refers to the old in new scenery. The viewer becomes a wanderer through the ages, while the work itself assembles fragments of different eras into a new whole.
In my eyes, that’s just what makes Britta’s work so unique: it tells personal stories which always reflect some of her impressions as an art historian.
Learn more about Britta’s works on her website mosaikstudio.de.