Somewhere in the Central Switzerland - A place called Nidwald.

After having travelled abroad for many years, I've started realising I didn't know so well my own country, Switzerland. Then I started a new Master degree for wich I needed to buy a train pass. Like most things in Switzerland, train passes are very expensive. So I've decided to make the most out of it by visiting during my 2 years studies the 26 Swiss regions (called "cantons") traveling by train. My goal hasn't been completed, but I've succeeded in seeing most of the "cantons" I've haven't been to before...excepted 2 or 3. Nidwald was one of the place I've visited during those 2 years. With the pictures I took there, I made collages, the second "Swiss" series after the one about Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. The collage is about the history of Nidwald we can see through its buildings (the human part) and the mountains that surround the town (the natural part).

Then a few pictures I took to make you feel the atmosphere of the place, even if you are miles away from it right now.

A German Autumn

What I like most about Germany is its diversity. On the first picture, the castle of Schwetzingen with its ostentatious garden and its blinding white sculptures. This is the historical and aristocratic face of Germany.

Then Heidelberg, another southern city of Germany. Architecture first. A (water?) tower emerging from behind a brick house along the Neckar river. Normally I try to avoid to take picture against the light. But I must admit I finally like this one. Its vintage flavour. And this strange building found while walking aimlessly in a residential area. I love the contrast between the soft curves and the hard angles on its upper part. The structure on its walls makes it look like an open book that welcome the visitor. The tower remind us in a very dreamlike way the cabin we built in trees during our childhood. And finally street-art and a bicycle, two important part of nowadays Germany in my eyes. Heidelberg isn't a great street-art spot like Berlin. Actually street artworks are so rare in this aristocratic city that when I found this purple face looking down I couldn't stand from taking a picture. Has it been painted when the bike was already on the foor to give the impression the character is looking at it? Or is it a pure coincidence? 

Speaking about street art, here two artworks I've found in the legendary Sankt-Pauli neighboroud in Hamburg. This black and white proud eagle and this message ("Lampedusa") in tribute to the migrants that try to reach this Italian island to start a new life. Because Germany is also made of those left-wing areas like Sankt-Pauli. 

Germany has also a very industrial face. Not as much as before of course, but some areas still has a very strong industrial atmosphere, like this building in Hamburg.

Close to its twin aristocratic sister, lies the industrial city of Mannheim that is converting into a more artistic city, like many former industrial places. The picture has been taken during an art festival organised in the whole city. Street art and art in general is much more visible in Mannheim than in Heidelberg, more famous for its old town and its castle. Those two neighbouring towns perfectly symbolize the diversity of Germany. 

Nomad Soul

This colourful painting has two major influences : Mexican art (the reptile sculpture and the sun-moon symbol) and Native Canadian art (the mouth and tongue on the right). I mixed it together and added my own style to it.  The results is made of shiny suns (or planets or maybe stars) with blue and brown abstract shapes. We can also see a lotus, another mouth, a character the head upside down, roots, puzzles stars and a bubble. Then we can read some words. "Despertarse" (wake up in spanish). Because it's highly important not to be a sheep and to fight for one's (human) rights. This is especially true right now. Then "Nomad Soul" in the centre of the painting is an ode to travels. And finally, "Walk With Me", a simple sentence to invite the spectator to "walk in the painting", to be part of it and give it his/her own meaning. As I must have said many times before, I love the idea of "participative art", the person watching the painting beeing a part of it.

Locarno Colages

Two collages I made out of pictures I took in 2014 when I was in Locarno, the Swiss-Italian city famous for its cinema festival. It was in December, but the temperature and the light made us feel like it was spring. The first one is a mosaic of wall and blue sky that decorated our trip. The white structures in colonial style on a brown house and the white lines that look like voodoo art give this collage an Haitian feeling. Nothing let the spectator know the pictures have been taken in Switzerland. 

The second collage is composed of shades of blue only disturbed by dot/houses and white clouds separating the sky. I made it look like the upper part is so perfectly reflected on the lake surface that we can't distinguish the reality from its reflection. I added the words "partenza per" (departing for) I found wrriten on a sign in the port. The whole picture is an invitation to travel. This is an ode to this outstanding feeling of freedom we got when we are starting a new trip. The feeling we are getting free of the routine and the day-to-day boring life for something completly new with its share of surprises and chance encounters.