“I like to think of my art as being completely free from language and narrative—like music,” says artist Constanza Schaffner. Born in Buenos Aires and now based in New York City, Schaffner discovered her calling after embarking on degrees in philosophy and comparative literature. “Through my studies, I came to realize the limits of conceptual thinking and to understand the Nietzschean idea that there is no ultimate rational truth. I turned to art as an attempt to open meaning.”
Constanza Schaffner, De Terror y de Gloria, (2023). Photo: GENEVIEVE HANSON
Unique process: “I never know when I start what the finished work is going to look like,” she says. “Often I will use a drawing or a photograph as a starting point, but then while painting, I begin to make a series of intuitive decisions—choosing a palette, incorporating abstract forms, or elongating a neck or a finger. Each of these decisions determines the next one.”
Constanza Schaffner, Noche, (2022). Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Up next: Schaffner is preparing for her first solo exhibition in Manhattan, at Luhring Augustine gallery. “I am incorporating new motifs like flowers and lions, which allow me to play with the idea of what it means to be feminine or a female painter. I try to challenge preconceptions. Something beautiful can be frightening, something mysterious can also be playful, something that inspires reverence can also make you laugh.”
Constanza Schaffner, Para Mí Para Tí Para Mí, (2021). Photo: Courtesy of the artist
“Constanza is one of the smartest, most talented, imaginative painters I’ve come across. Her works are strange and evocative in ways that reflect her extremely erudite background and advanced studies”
Daniel S. Palmer
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2023 Winter Issue under the headline “Next Big Things.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Click here to see the full list of “Next Big Things.”
