Katerina Orthwein’s work is a charming and unfettered joyful vision of a world imbued with sensuality, empathy and directing an optimistic message to the viewer. The themes of her works are varied. Portraits, landscapes, paintings inspired by ancient mythology. One has the impression that the artist records the smallest detail of her inner world of imagination in order to be as close as possible to her original feelings, to convey as much as possible to the viewers, In her paintings, figural forms attract the eye with their colourful exuberance and the vitality of the forms used in the composition. Some works give the impression of coming from another world, the world of the author’s sensitivity, inspired by antiquity. Each creation contains a mystery, an appropriately subdued dose of mysticism, spiritual depth and aesthetic experience. She creates worlds in which the viewer can immerse themselves, guided by their own intuition and ability to personally experience the artistic message. For the artist’s works are unique in terms of the possibility of interpretation. The artistic order of Katerina Orthwein’s paintings is determined by the basic triad of colours, where intense reds are juxtaposed with subtle blues and deep greys in some paintings, while in others strong browns and sepias are juxtaposed with emerald and dark blue tones. The artist’s paintings are distinguished by a discreet elegance and also have the mystery of a fairy-tale world combined with nostalgic reflection. The most valuable thing about the artist’s paintings is that she is able to create from a single motif a whole landscape of feelings and emotions, intense and at the same time subtle and intimate. The artist’s works are a constant description of her own experiences through art, in which the viewer can find content that is close to them and even discover a piece of herself. At this point it is worth recalling the words of the late artist Wiesław Janasz, which aptly convey the message of Katerina Orthwein’s work. He said about her works. The paintings emanate intimacy, tenderness, expectation and warmth. The longing of nature. Lights of colours weave between lines shaping the beauty and radiance of the beauty of the human body, its readiness for love.

Zbigniew Pindor, Świat Elit 1/2018