Paths traced by pedestrians in a landscape, desire lines, as named by urban planners, are invented by their users who, on a daily basis, choose the diagonal or the shortcut over the prescribed path.

Maria Tackmann traverses the territory by stepping off the beaten track. She explores urban spaces, natural areas, and interstitial zones, collecting fragments, small objects, and materials. Once her palette is assembled, Tackmann becomes a painter. She places and arranges these elements on the ground like a city, a book, or a poem. In her search for the balance of forms and the harmony of materials, her practice remains open. She often engages in a dialogue with the place: her explorations reveal its layers and roughness.

The artist also draws. On paper, in the dust, in cracked earth, in the entanglement of twigs or scattered shards. Sometimes, it’s the tires of a car leaving a folk festival, sometimes the artist’s feet treading on snow that leave an imprint.

Maria Tackmann was born in 1982 in Wattenwil in the canton of Bern. She lives and works in Wald in Appenzell.