Collection: Mueller-Both, Gudrun

Gudrun Mueller-Both was born and raised in a small rural village in Germany. Her growing-up experience of nature and a village life style which valued creative skills and resourcefulness, contributed to Gudrun’s early interest in art and creativity.

Adventure and travel brought her to North America after graduation from high school. It was not until having immigrated to Canada (Victoria, BC), completing a degree in healthcare, and then enrolling in art school and graduating with a BFA (Honors) that the artist felt she had arrived ‘home’ in more than one way.

While being a student in Visual Arts at University of Victoria, BC, Gudrun discovered her passion for printmaking – etching and woodblock in particular. The tactile encounter with wood, metal and paper, combined with the process of mark- and image making, resonated deeply with the artist’s family traditions – woodworking, horticulture, working with textiles and materials to manufacture and re-purpose tools, objects, furnishings, and clothing.

Since 1993 Gudrun has resided in Wolfville, NS, where she operated a studio and art gallery while raising children. She has shared her skills through teaching art classes and offering workshops in Nova Scotia and other provinces.

Gudrun’s work has been exhibited in Germany and Canada, and is found in both private and public collections in North America and abroad. Former gallery representation includes Harvest Gallery in Wolfville, PEER Gallery in Lunenburg, and Teichert Gallery (formerly ASAR Gallery) in Halifax.

In 2019, Gudrun returned to art practice following several years of dedicating time to family matters and healthcare employment commitments. Throughout fall 2019 and 2020, she has been a founding member of TIDES Contemporary Art Gallery in Kentville, NS.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Gudrun’s subject matter draws from the world around and within – the environment of the Annapolis Valley, the Bay of Fundy, Canada’s North and wilderness as well as the landscape of memory, metaphor and vision.

Printmaking and drawing continue to be a vital medium in the artist’s art making vocabulary, in particular, her (large) multicolored woodblocks, which comment on aspects of maritime life and culture.  Gudrun’s colorful acrylic floral and still life paintings testify to her love of nature and botany, while print / mixed media collages mirror her view of life as an ever changing tapestry rich with many dimensions.

“Making art for me represents an act of sanity; a process of mending together the fugitive pieces of past, present and future in a way few other experiences allow.”

“Envisioning, uncovering, transforming and creating are at their deepest level a healing experience. Making visible an image creates connection and meaning, and supports the fabric of inter-being - through the artist to the viewer into the world. As the image speaks to the world, so the world responds to the artist in return; while listening, new images take shape and ask for expression.”

“Creativity is the common language we share as humans – a language so ancient, so contemporary and universal as our being in time. I would like to use this gift to contribute, to inspire and to celebrate the complex, marvelous and mysterious adventure of being alive.”