“The world still untouched – radiant!
And then, out of the blue
Creeps up, barely visible,
The misfortune brought by human hands.
A storm brews, the earth shakes,
It won’t take it anymore.
Bursting, breaking, screaming – warning,
The disturbed cycle of nature.
Look with watchful eyes
On the world. Ask questions!
To stop the misfortune
Brought by human hands.”
“The turnaround didn’t come as a complete surprise to me because I basically knew what would happen when the Wall fell: […] A repeat of what I experienced, just that others will have to experience it.”
Siegrid Müller-Holtz was born in Stralsund in 1948. Aged nine, she moved with her family to West Germany where she studied art, education, and mathematics. With her painting “Gemischte Gefühle” (Mixed feelings) she aimed to draw attention to the looming disaster threatening the world.
Siegrid Müller-Holtz in the interview
In her abstract 1990 Wall painting “Gemischte Gefühle” (Mixed feelings), Siegrid Müller-Holtz combined a landscape with text. The black sphere in the picture centre breaks up the landscape and extends into it. The painting is both a warning and an appeal to prevent man-made disaster and protect the world.
Siegrid Müller-Holtz studied to become a teacher, majoring in art, education, and mathematics. In 1971 she moved to West Berlin and worked as a teacher. Having later become a freelance artist, she first exhibited her work in Berlin-Kreuzberg in 1989. Today she lives in Caputh, near Potsdam, where she exhibits her work in her own gallery.