Between Here and There
The triangular figures in the work of Annette Zappe

The main focus of Annette Zappe’s artistic work is the examination of intellectual and spiritual connections of human being. Questions about its existence, its co-existence with others, its search for its own limits, its origin and its future are the basic themes of her sculptures. Sensitively, the artist is searching for the existential and fundamental questions in life.

The sculptures of that slender figure striding out with big steps are a vital subject of her work. The long robe gives the figure an almost triangular shilhouette. In most cases that figure comes together with some rather abstract components that put the figure into a spatial context. In her bronze „Between here and there“ it is striding undeviatingly to reach its goal passing a wide spanning arc. It already crossed the mid point of the arc that represents life between its beginning and its ultimate aim. The spectator sees the figure located in the second half of the arc, apparently pausing for a moment, yet still clearly on the move. The figure itself is not just an individual, but in its triangular form an archaic symbol for progress, for crossing over. The long robe, evidently not eveyday attire, rather suggest a sacred garment, which again seems to point to a time-independent and universal context.

In her sculpture „The step in-between“ the figure does not move through empty space either. It does not stride through an unlimited vastness like a lonely roamer. It rather crosses the level area which a stylized gate interrupts like a ceasura at a right angle. The gate divides the area quasi into two equal parts. The figure strides through a door-like opening over a threshhold that separates the space behind it and the space that opens in front of it. We don‘t know where the figure comes from nor where it‘s heading for. The essence lies in what is „in between“. Only the interection at the gate makes it clear that one area is being left and another entered. By passing the door the motion becomes a transition and the step leads to stepping-ahead. You could also say the gate separates and connects at the same time. What seems to be conflicting, acts as a connector between the two. Both areas are inextricably linked with each other.

In her work „Between no-longer and not-yet“ a figure strides through an intervening space as well. It stepped out of one of the houses, but has not yet reached the other one. It is „no longer“ situated in the first house, but is „not yet“ located in the second one. The spatial distortion of the houses suggests that more might be going on beyond that three-dimensional space. The essential events take place „in between“, as the title suggests. The figure‘s goal seems to lie in the characteristic of its striding and roaming itself, in the nature of its being on the move. The essence lies in that moment that reflects the never-ending pro-gress of life, every day in a new and different way. It remains unclear for how long that movement in-between stages continues, but its finiteness admonishes that one be mindful with one‘s time in-between.