120 x 60 cm, Acrylic on canvas, collageIn “Und ihr Hund” (And Her Dog, 2025), Sabina Bockemühl turns to animal portraiture – beyond sentimental gesture, as an artful character study. The dog, a pug, sits like a monument on a bright red pedestal, its gaze directed upward, almost enraptured, as if fixed on something invisible. The physiognomy is precise, but the body of the image is permeated by graphic patterns, ornamental inserts and calligraphic lines, as if the animal were at once a bearer of fabric, a projection surface and a keepsake. The colors shift between deep violet, glowing orange and rich black – like a dramatically lit stage play. The background dissolves into color space and expressiveness without simulating depth. Instead, the dog – elevated, tattooed, almost mythical – stands before an atmospherically charged void. The title “Und ihr Hund” can also be read as a tongue-in-cheek inversion of the film title “Driving Miss Daisy” (German title: “Miss Daisy und ihr Chauffeur”; directed by Bruce Beresford, screenplay by Alfred Uhry, 1989), with the dog taking the place of the driver as the faithful companion of a reserved yet palpably present protagonist. In this work Bockemühl combines figurative precision with free painterly gesture: an image between keepsake and character portrait.
