CATHARTIC CONNECTIONS
Switzerland, March 2024
A language of feeling in paint, with Swiss artist and model VERONIKA KUNZ.
For Veronika Kunz, painting is “all my own crazy life, myself, my psyche, my body and my relationship with the world around me as one.” Entirely self-taught, and heavily influenced by her parents’ passions – her mother is an artist and as Kunz recalls, her childhood was filled with happy days spent watching her father draw and sculpt – the bedrock of her personal creative mantra is to express her inner world and draw from her lived experience. This makes for a duality in her work which is potently powerful and fragile in its own evocative realm, her shifts in perspective and colours traversing pain, truths, realisations, and beauty, with a space for reflection on these binaries of human experience.
Her paintings are sensational in that they’re unspeakable, the narrative is in suspension, they almost overpower the mind to decipher the context. But that’s entirely the point – Kunz doesn’t want to portray an answer, she’s still interpreting what her paintings mean to her, years later. “I look at my paintings from when I was younger, which I maybe thought were shit at the time; but now, with maturity, you see them differently,” she says. “There are some that are just complicated and they will stay that way. Who knows though, maybe in 10 years, those paintings won’t seem so complicated anymore and mean something different with a different truth.”
Trenchcoat Issey Miyake, shirt Atelier Soven
EMOTIVE RHYTHM
“When I paint, it depends on what kind of emotions I’m feeling; sometimes emotions need to come out in other ways like dancing or with sport. When I feel ready to paint, it’s usually when I’m not doing that well in myself, so the medium helps me to be in the present and release my inner psyche.”
Full look Marni
FIGURAL AMBIGUITY
“I did a painting several years ago after having a big fight with my sister, and it was the worst fight we’ve had. For a long time, I thought the figure I had drawn in the painting was of my sister, and I was expressing all my thoughts about how tough that time was and how we couldn’t support her in the way she wanted or needed. Then years later, when I discovered the painting again – as I was considering showing it to someone and explaining the background behind it – I looked deeply at it and realised the figure in it is me, not my sister, I had painted myself. It made me cry, as I saw there was some kind of disconnection in my childhood, maybe some element of trauma, and it was difficult to accept that I had been so sad. With the figures I paint, I believe that who they are can change over time.”
Left Shirt Sebline, pants MM6
Right Coat Alainpaul, pants Ami, shirt Sebline, laofer Aeyde, belt Celine by Hedi Slimane
CREATIVE CATALYST
“Everything happens very organically in my studio. I love music and I have a great sound system which is important. I usually just start a painting and see where it takes me and what happens. Many times, it’s uncomfortable to work without having an idea or plan, not knowing if I should do this or do that. But usually, when I’m working, I can see a pattern emerging, and mentally, I can find a connection to other patterns, and that’s when I realise what I like and what direction to go in.”
Blazer, pants and shoes Maison Margiela, shirt Sebline, shirt Ami
COLOUR CONNECTIONS
“Colour is so important to me. Colour is like a room with its own energy. In my paintings, the colours open different rooms, and they can change the perspective of that room. Sometimes if I am painting and I think what I’m doing is really shit, I add another layer of colour, and then it might still be shit, but suddenly, it changes the perspective and opens another room. I work with my dad on my self-invented colours, with lots of pigments, and every colour has its own story, its own relation to oil, water, and the material. I think if I look at my work, the colour and contrasts of colour are very full on and that might well be my signature.”
Left Full look Quira
Right Coat Alainpaul, pants Ami, shirt Sebline, laofer Aeyde, belt Celine by Hedi Slimane
LIFE CYCLES
“I’m a very crazy person! I’ve been going through a very difficult period lately, with many things happening to me, and for half a year, I’ve not done very much, and that’s hard to accept. It means my energy is not flowing right. But I’m beginning to move forward and having time out has helped me to see what I really want from my life and what’s good for me. I come from a rather poor background, and it was a hippy way of life too, but I’m so grateful as both my parents taught me so much. Being with my dad, he was always very creative around me and my sister, and we used to draw a lot with him. My mum is also a very good artist. There were lots of arguments going on too! When I reflect on those times now though, they helped me to learn the importance of being open and honest in conversations and to be able to reach deeper emotionally.”
Coat, tank top and pants Quira, loafer Aeyde
REALITY CHECK
“I am who I am. I can’t be something I’m not, so there is no point in selling myself as something else. Being in fashion made me feel uncomfortable many times, as fashion is often about chasing the ‘coolness of life’, you know? But what is cool, who decides what’s cool and what is fashion really selling? I think the coolest and the sexiest thing on earth is truth. To have the balls to be yourself and not be scared to be who we are, and not worry about what others think.”
Left Full look Quira
Right Trenchcoat, blazer and pants Issey Miyake, shirt Atelier Soven, shoes Maison Margiela
MERGING WORLDS
“I didn’t study art at all. I wanted to, but I began modelling, and it’s helped me to earn enough money to get a studio, to buy the canvases and paints I need to work as an artist, so I’m thankful for that. I don’t identify personally with fashion though, and what I wear is easy-going stuff like trainers and jumpers. I identify more with what interests me, how I feel, and what I want to give and do in my life. I learned a lot with modelling, about life, socialising, and business, which I’m grateful for. But right now, I’m at a point where I want to explore fashion in a way that I can identify with myself, and explore myself more, bring new context to it, and maybe look at the performance aspect too.”
Blazer and shorts Dries Van Noten, shirt Miu Miu, socks Falke, shoes Maison Margiela
ASPECTS OF SELF: PAINTING THEN AND NOW
“I think that the more honest I am, the better. It’s difficult to paint something honestly if you’re doing it and thinking about how others will view it – you need to stay true to yourself. In the beginning when I first started, I think it was easier to just do whatever I wanted and go with however I felt and not worry about meanings too much! But I think as time has gone on, it’s what’s behind the painting that matters to me more, the deeper meaning and the context, how it refers to what is going on in my head and my world.”
Right Shirt and pants Bottega Veneta, shoes Maison Margiela
ALIGNING AND EVOLVING
“I suppose there is an air of mystery about me, as I’m rubbish with sharing my work and my life on social media, like everyone does. It also takes me forever to post an image, working out how to include everyone who was on a shoot with me – posting about myself makes me feel weird sometimes! As for my art though, I do post stories about it, but I would like to have the right people around me who believe in my work. I believe in the universe making things happen, so at some point, there will be a time when everything comes together, and I will find the right way to present my art to the world.”
Full look Loewe
Interview by Kate lawson
Photography by Stanislas Motz-Neidhart
Fashion and Art Direction by Tim Tobias Zimmermann
Production by Voile Studio
Hair by Alexander Soltermann at Home Agency
Make-Up by Eny Whitehead
Stylist’s assistant Brittany Belo
Production assistant Noemi Leonhardt