Ernestine Haidenkummer
Website: www.haidenkummer-art.at
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My name is Ernestine Haidenkummer, I am an Austrian artist and I live in Kapfenberg in the beautiful Styria.
In 2006, I discovered my love and passion for paintings as an autodidact. Since then, my passion has been acrylic painting, from abstract to figurative, from portraits to erotic pictures and I love to paint cubism pictures in my own style, And the black and white checkerboard patterns on my paintings have already become recognizable and the interest of art experts and art collectors.
And I also engage in sculpture construction, which continually presents me with new challenges.
I am inspired by life, nature and the beauties of this world. I let my soul dangle while painting, because color is like music in my paintings.
I can already look back on many successful exhibitions and participations in international art projects. My first great success was the election to the semifinals at SWISSARTEXPO 2019, followed by an invitation to present my work at Art Week in Miami, Florida, and an art sponsorship contract where three of my works will be presented online worldwide.
And since 2022 I can also look forward to 7 Artistic Excellence Awards, 6 Finalist Awards, 3 Masterful Mind Awards, 2 Creative Excellence Awards, 1 Honorable Mention Award and in 2024 1 Global Art Virtuoso: Elite Artistic Career Achievement Award, as well as several entries in exclusive art books (like in the Luxury Collection of Contemporary Artistry), a certificate of merit for artistic achievement from the Luxembourg Art Museum and in 2023 the nomination and award of the art prize in Germany.
But I'm especially proud that I was selected by the Effetto Arte Foundation along with several artists from around the world and received the International Award "The New Great Masters in New York" in April 2025, which was presented at a ceremony at the Church of Ascension in Brooklyn. But my artistic journey continues, because in June 2025, I was awarded the International Prize "Leonardo Da Vinci - The Universal Artist" in Milan.
Ernestine, your body of work moves fluidly between abstraction and figuration, from cubist interpretation to erotic expression. How do you reconcile these varied visual languages within your personal aesthetic identity, and do you perceive your art as a continuum of emotional states or as distinct chapters in an evolving internal narrative?
Since I began painting, I haven’t subjected myself to any particular art movement. It’s precisely for this reason that I might paint a Cubist picture one day, and on another day something erotic or abstract.
The checkerboard motif has become something of a visual signature in your paintings. In a tradition where pattern is often dismissed as decorative, you elevate it to a conceptual device. What symbolic or psychological significance does this recurring element hold for you, and how has it evolved in your work as both a compositional anchor and an emblem of recognition?
My checkerboard pattern has now become a staple of my artworks and has emerged as a recognizable feature of mine. It has no particular meaning; I just wanted to try something that no other artist had ever done before. And I succeeded. And yes, I love my black-and-white checkerboard patterns.
As a self-taught artist who has achieved wide international recognition, including accolades such as The New Great Masters in New York and the Leonardo da Vinci Prize, how do you navigate the dichotomy between institutional validation and intuitive creation? Do you feel your autodidactic origins offer a kind of liberation from formal art historical constraints, or do they impose their own set of challenges?
As a self-taught artist, I love every kind of painting, but I don't subject myself to any rules or theories of art and painting. I always let my imagination and my feelings run free, and each of my paintings is only finished when it’s perfect for me and I’m happy with it. And... receiving awards gives me confirmation that I’m on the right path... and that’s pure joy.
Your use of vibrant, emotionally charged colors—each meticulously chosen for its psychological resonance—infuses your compositions with a synesthetic quality that borders on musicality. Could you expand on your philosophy that color is like music in my paintings? How do you translate intangible emotional frequencies into chromatic form?
I love to play and experiment with colors. This can be as colorful as a bouquet of flowers or just plain black and white. I call this play of colors the music in my paintings, just as high and low notes can be inspiring for a musician.
Cubism, traditionally rooted in analytical deconstruction of form, becomes in your hands something far more intimate and idiosyncratic. How do you reinterpret the legacy of Picasso and Braque through your own visual vocabulary, and what does it mean for you to engage with cubism in your own way within the context of 21st-century contemporary art?
For me, Cubism is an art movement that emphasizes the uniqueness of a face—whether you like it or not, whether it's beautiful or not so beautiful. With Cubism, you can let your imagination run wild. There’s no perfectly even face… there’s inequality… but there’s still beauty and perfection in a different way. And yes, I love Cubism.
Your recent sculptural explorations introduce a new dimensionality to your practice. In what ways does working with volume, space, and material resistance differ from the planar seduction of painting? Do you approach sculpture with the same emotional immediacy as your canvas work, or does it demand a different kind of cognitive or meditative engagement?
The work and exploration of creating sculptures arose from a previous project I participated in. It was a major challenge, which I mastered brilliantly. Working with very different materials—such as wood, concrete, iron, glass, etc.—has broadened my horizons in many ways, but of course, without forgetting the painting on my sculptures. Masterpieces that have demanded a great deal from me have emerged... but my "great love" has remained painting on canvas.
Throughout your career, you’ve exhibited widely across Europe, the Middle East, and North America. How have these varied cultural environments, each with its own visual literacy, aesthetic codes, and sociopolitical textures, influenced the reception of your work? Have any particular cultural encounters significantly shifted your creative trajectory or artistic worldview?
My many exhibitions and participation in international art projects have shown me that my art is highly recognized and appreciated. This, of course, motivates me to pursue my painting with even more passion, but it hasn’t influenced my artistic worldview in any way. I paint the way I like!
You often speak of letting your soul dangle while painting, suggesting a kind of meditative immersion. In an age dominated by hyperconnectivity and algorithmic attention spans, what role do you believe slow, introspective creation plays in the broader cultural ecosystem? Is your practice a form of resistance, a spiritual retreat, or an act of reclamation?
My paintings with the black-and-white checkerboard pattern are very labor-intensive, as each square is executed meticulously and with precise accuracy; time is not important at all. And then... what will the finished picture look like? With every brushstroke, the excitement grows... for me, that’s letting my soul unwind.
Eroticism in your paintings is approached with both boldness and elegance, devoid of vulgarity but unapologetically direct. In a climate where bodies, especially women’s bodies, are sites of political and cultural contestation, what is your approach to depicting sensuality? Is it empowerment, vulnerability, provocation, or all of these at once?
I love to paint Cubist paintings, but I also enjoy painting abstract and erotic works. I think erotic paintings that are aesthetic, sensual, and beautiful to look at are something natural and quite wonderful. However, they will never be exhibited in places where scantily clad images of women are considered provocative.
Your statement that a picture only unfolds its beauty when it hangs in the right place suggests a belief in the contextual life of art beyond the studio. How do you imagine your artworks living in the world—within homes, institutions, or digital space—and what do you think is lost or gained when a work is displaced from its intended or intuitive environment?
Yes, I stand by that—a picture only unfolds its beauty when it is hung in the right place... Everyone sees something different in their own picture, feels something different—and thus, the right place will be different for each individual.