Sabine Banovic lays sprawled upon two worn-out cushions on top of a massive white canvas in her art studio in Prenzlauer Berg. She talks amicably about her art and life in Berlin as she adds elegant black lines to one of her paintings that she is preparing for the Preview Berlin Art Fair at Tempelhof Airport. At a first glance, it is hard to believe the this composed, petit blonde woman has been through as many life phases as Berlin itself has; at one point having an artistic hiatus for almost three years.

“I used to paint with a lot of color,” she says. “But at some point I realized it was just too much; Color has an association with it and I want my work to be more abstract than that.” She continues to explain how she prefers to work on the floor to prevent the black watercolor paint from running. Her inspiration for her drawings comes from her study of Japanese art and also from music, specifically the rhythm and beat. “It is not a direct junction between drawing and lyrics,” she explains. “It is not in a sense political; In a song, text is the message but I don’t have a message in my work.”

Starting a New Life at Preview Berlin 

This will be Sabine’s second time showing at Preview Berlin Art Fair. Her eyes light up and a small smile crosses her face as we begin to talk about the fair. “For me, Preview is like a coming out party,” she says. After graduating from university and having children, Sabine went through a dark period of more than 2 years where she never showed her work publicly until she met Kristian Jamuschek, a gallery owner and one of the organizers of Preview Berlin.

“For two years I was alone with my ideas,” Sabine says, “I just retreated and focused on only on my work then at one point I realized I must go out now and share my gift but it was quite difficult.” After being out of the game for so long, Sabine and her work were completely unknown in the art world. “It is so difficult to find someone who is willing to take that risk for you,” she says. “Without Kristian I would have never been able to show my work.”

Sabine is the perfect poster-child for Preview because she represents the true Berliner artist, relatively unknown but talented and eager. “I love Preview because it is a place for artists from all walks of life,” she explains, “It is young but not so dirty and crowded; They are not arrogant.” Sabine hopes that after this year’s fair she will attract new collectors. “Right now the market is going down a little so we hope things will turn around,” she says. “Fairs like Preview where young artists are welcomed are what the art world needs.”

 Tempelhof Airport Preview Berlin Art Fair. September 13th – 16th 2012: 1-8pm.

Article written by Kirsten Hall

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