Although born and raised in Basel, the most industrial part of Switzerland, I initially completed academic studies in comparative literature on the West Coast of British Columbia. This was followed by formal training as a traditional sculptor in Southern Germany. Back in my home country a number of years later, I also cross-trained as a Montessori school teacher. The cross-fertilisation in these fields literature, the visual arts and education shape and strengthen my developments as an artist and individual to this day.
After my training as a sculptor, I started working with classical materials such as bronzes and stone (see www.kalenka.ch) using my images of mythology. Since a few years, I am experimenting with recycled materials such as newspaper from around the world, maps, sheet music and envelopes. The simplicity of my arte povera allows me to move freely from Basel to Amsterdam and accommodates my life-style as well as artistic ambitions. I can continue to create a series of interlinked and evolving objects in both cities.
The objects shown here act as interventions in private homes or in confined public environments. I enjoy seeing and observing the interactions with people who made my art part of their own surroundings. In particular in private homes in Amsterdam original works of art have a notable and visible presence. It is in such surroundings that my art claims its disruptive space.