ONA B. :
Installation At the Minorite Church Krems-Stein

Racing rowing boats play a special, paradigmatic role in Ona B.’s triadic ballet of painting, space and object. The long, slender, needle-shaped boats draw their aesthetic impact mainly from the fact that they are lying or hanging upside down. As, for instance, on the façade of the Minorite church in Krems-Stein where the boat rises up into the sky like an arrow, a luminous wound in the masonry. Ona B.’s highly emotional ready-made is a metaphor for space and time, the boat a prop with multiple meanings. It tells the story of the ferryman Charon, of this world and the other world, of flowing and water. The boat is also used by the artist as a pattern for identification, just as the color red which appears throughout her entire work as a sort of mantra. The boat sculpture in public space also serves as a sign that can be seen from afar. It signals the meaning of dialogue which is so crucial for Ona B.’s work. The conversation between the generally valid object and concrete architecture creates a network between art and reality, dream and life. One could also speak of precision, concentration and resolution – all traits that are typical for artists but also athletes. The highly sensitive interface between both professions is firmly anchored in Ona B.’s oeuvre: in Kyudo, the Japanese art of Zen archery.
(Brigitte Huck)