Every morning and every evening Saskia Wendland (1973, Potsdam, DE) draws a circle. It is the first thing she does upon waking and the last thing she does before going to sleep. Inspired by Japanese calligraphy, day in day out Wendland draws circles on top of each other on a sheet of paper as wide as she is tall. The circumference of the circle is determined by the length of her arm.

 

Between 2000 and 2003 Wendland studied calligraphy in Kyoto, Japan. In calligraphy the circle is the most important sign, symbolising enlightenment, the universe and emptiness, but also depicting 'the moment', which makes it perhaps the ultimate minimalistic symbol. She made her first circle-work in 1998. Just as in the Japanese tradition it is the process of creating which is seen as more important than the result, Wendland emphasises the lapsing of time with just the movement of an arm. Wendland makes the constant unique moment visible.

 

Saskia Wendland studied between 1994 and 2000 Visual Communication at Berlin University of Arts. Her first solo exhibition "sono mama" was featured by Galerie Weissraum in Kyoto Japan (2001). Her work was also exhibited in several group shows in Europe and Japan, amongst others Tel Aviv (2009), Tape Modern #8, Berlin (2009), Museum of Asian Art, Berlin (2007), Museum of Photography, Braunschweig (2005), Goeteborg, Sweden (2005), "Screen Fields" Session House Tokyo and Goethe Insititut, Kyoto (2005), and Arai House, Osaka (2004).