Manser Magic

ANTJE MANSER is at it again, painting mysterious, dream-like worlds of sublime beauty and enchantment, so compelling that they seem to beckon you to step inside and become a part of this dream. Flowers, trees, the wind, the sea, clouds and birds in flight seem to float and glide over her canvas with lyrical harmony, in soft, diffused colours, as though they are veiled in some kind of an ethereal mist. And when you step out again, you are completely revitalised by the refreshing insight you gain about Nature. This is Manser magic at its very best. The magic goes far beyond her canvas. It also infuses her with this remarkable capacity to reinvent herself in a new avatar, or reincarnation as apainter, and come up with something new, something refreshingly different, something exciting.

She says: “In my dreams … I live in beautiful gardens, listen to the sound of birds, fountains give me peace and relaxation. I travel to foreign countries …. When I wake up … I create my sanctuary on canvas, inspired by Moorish culture, Japanese gardens and beautiful landscapes”.

Antje is a German artist who has for long made Oman her home, fascinated and completely enamoured by the natural beauty and landscape of this wonderful country, its affectionate and hospitable people and the soothing, tranquil pace at which life flow out here. She spends equal time between here from October end to mid-May and the remaining months of the year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the United States, where she lives, works and creates new magic in an artists’ village out there.

An active participant of Muscat’s lively art scenario she has participated in several solo and group art exhibitions here. She is at present in the process of staging another art exhibition entitled “Reflections” along with an eminent Omani artist Dr. Fakhriyah Al Yahyai, who hold a doctorate in fine arts from the Sultan Qaboos University. The exhibition opens at the Bait Al Baranda on November 7.

As always, the moon is ever-present in her paintings, adding to the mystery and enchantment, sometimes as a silvery crescent and sometimes full. Antje says with a gentle smile that it has its own magic: “The moon goes with me wherever I go. It is very soothing; it is a kind of a signature”.

Viewed from another perspective, the moon in many Eastern cultures stands as a powerful metaphor for Life itself signifying a beginning, an end, a cycle of change, of permanence and continuity, of nothingness and everything, of illusion and reality, a circle where the beginning and end merge into an infinite whole.

But Antje says she has always been deeply influenced by the Zen Buddhist philosophy of the Japanese and the writings of 13th century Sufi poet Rumi, from Iran. Perhaps this may explain to some extent her passion for the moon. The minimalist approach again reflects a strong Japanaese influence on her paintings – very simple and yet very profound. But always with this all-pervasive air of soothing stillness and tranquillity.

This element in her paintings may lead you to wonder if the artist had sojourned for long in Japan. But she shakes her head and says no. “I barely stayed there for a month. But the beauty of the place has left a lasting impact on my psyche and that somehow spills out on to my canvases”.

Talking about her approach to painting and her love for Nature, Antje says: “I don’t want to paint what is in front of me. I rely instead on photographs and transform these into my world, finding my own language to express my love for flowers, trees and landscape. I switch from one extreme to the other, from decorative Moorish style elements to the simplicity of Japanese gardens”.

She goes on to add: “I admire the influence of Arab poets on artists and I’m grateful that my artwork is influencing poets like Sama Issah in Oman”.

Speaking about her love for flowers Antje recalls: “Many paintings I have done are stylized flowers. I always seem to return to the quiet, organic harmony of floral forms ….. I used to go into greenhouses to draw. I did flower paintings which devolved into abstractions. Now, some of the discipline of oriental ornamentation has taken hold of my work; I enjoy the rhythmic patterns. I suppose my present work is a further development of my floral paintings using new techniques like digital collages and giving expression to my own imagination of nature”.

In summing up, Antje says there is more to being an artist than just being able to paint and draw. What is equally important from her point of view is your attitude to life and living and how receptive and open you are to the world around you. Her formula on how to be an artist recommends that you “stay loose, plant impossible gardens, hug trees, look forward to dreams, cultivate moods, believe in magic, laugh a lot, celebrate every gorgeous moment, draw on the wall, read every day, entertain your inner child. Open up ! Be free”.

Now isn’t that just awesome. You never know what might happen. Perhaps it may not make an artist out of everyone. But a little bit of magic and some dreams can open up your world in a way you never imagined it could be. No wonder Antje is the way she is – sunny smiles, infectious laughter and a joie de vivre that is like a tonic for all who come in contact with her, even if it is for a few fleeting moments.