Where Flesh Remembers The Touch / Vivian Greven

This conversation explores how contemporary figurative art can act as a vessel for body and emotional expression, examining the sacredness of touch, vulnerability, and the complexity of human connection. The artist reflects on the role of intimacy in painting, the emotional weight of materiality, and the power of sensory presence in art to counter modern disconnection.

To what extent, and in what ways, has your personal relationship with the body influenced and shaped your artistic practice?

It’s probably at the core of my practice. Living in a body and thus being an embodiment of life is central to my paintings.

Your works strongly emphasise interrelation and human contact as intrinsic needs. Do you believe these values are somewhat undervalued today? Which thematic and artistic aspects do you think we are neglecting?

I don’t know if that is a contemporary phenomenon. I would rather say the neglect of connectedness and the partly or fully disconnection from ourselves and our emotions have become our human condition. How else should we survive in this world full of crisis? It needs bravery to feel fully. But this is the magic – one who feels becomes an invitation for everyone else.

“An artwork that is created in this space becomes an open door to presence”

From your gaze, one perceives the sensory power of a suspended moment—the sacredness of touch, the delicacy of an erotic intimacy not yet fulfilled. In a society that rushes towards the aftermath, often associating the act with violence, do you believe it is possible to artistically educate people to appreciate the sensitivity and depth of the present moment?

It’s not about education. It’s about being present and thus creating space. An artwork that is created in this space becomes an open door to presence.

Is there a darker side, an element of rejection, that you perceive both in the corporeal representations of ancient Greece and Rome, and in those of the digital age—yet which, when combined, create an artistic balance?

I think the stone of the sculptures and the screen of the digital age demonstrate a physical limitation. You might be drawn to touch what you perceive as gentle and soft but this can only lead to disappointment when the real phenomenon is cold, hard or even not touchable at all.

Does emotional psychology come first, or the valorisation of materiality? How do you weigh the importance of these two elements in your work?

I would say they go hand in hand. When you look at human beeings, you can see each ones psychological condition through their outer form. This is inseparable.

“I am interested in the essence of all things.”

What is your greatest fear regarding the future of art?

I am very much concerned about the climate and our earth’s condition. I am also concerned about our relationship to each other – in a way about our condition. Both are correlated.

Could you tell us about your approach to creative progress? Do you believe that advancing creatively requires drawing from the past and reinterpreting it in a contemporary light? What do you think is lacking in those who look to the future without enriching themselves through the past?

I am interested in the essence of all things. When I paint it’s like a sensual and analytical investigation into the depth of what I am looking for in that specific moment. It does not follow a chronological order or system. It’s much more intuitive. Although it’s usually possible to see a conceptual interconnection when paintings get finished. It’s nice when an art work is able to look at the past, present and future but it’s not necessary. But maybe art is always connected and cannot get rid of time in general.

Your paintings seem to outline a metamorphic universe, suspended between the past and the present, in a kind of temporal limbo. Do you believe your artistic evolution will move towards a new form, overcoming this metamorphosis, or do you prefer to continue exploring this hybrid, in-between space?

I like my paintings to be ambiguous and open. I paint them for the people. That’s why they need to be universal.

Are you currently working on any exhibitions or thematic projects that mark a new creative phase in your career? Can you give us a preview?

I am currently preparing my upcoming solo show at Vacancy in Shanghai. I started to layer different kind of images to explore what happens between them. To give an example: in one painting I compare Marilyn Monroe to Theresa in Ecstasy (Bernini)and I put both portraits directly above each other. It’s fascinating to see the similarities in their inner and outer features. I can draw conclusions about their stereotypical appearance and why we perceive them the way we do and what it possibly has done to their inner worlds.