Steffi Coupette

As a little girl Steffi was fascinated by the great palette present in nature: the intensity of the sunset, the play of shadow and light on rainy days ... This passion for colour would become an essential part of her life.
Career choices took her away from her artistic vocation, and she began a career in banking in Cologne. But from 1990 to 1998, she studied painting and drawing in the German city.
In 1998, she moved with her husband to Asia. She travelled throughout China for a decade (Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai) and spent some time in Singapore. Far from her native land, she gradually returned to her passion. From 2002 to 2003 she attended intensive courses to perfect her mastery of drawing and watercolour. In 2005, she discovered acrylics, which soon became her preferred medium. She exhibited her first works in 2006 in Shanghai. Back in Germany, she joined the studio of Klaus Gollan in 2009. She currently lives and works in Leverkusen, near Cologne.
At the beginning of her career as an artist, Steffi was influenced by the expressionism of German painter August Macke (twentieth century). She learned by copying his works. Her approach gradually became more refined as she made different artistic discoveries. Although her style would change, colour remained at the heart of her work.
Steffi is inspired by the memory of her past in Asia, of meeting different cultures and traditions. She loves the atmosphere of changing cityscapes. The same city appears with a new face, according to the seasons or times of day.
The artist prefers abstraction, which gives free rein to the viewer’s imagination. She paints by superimposing layers of paint to give depth to her work. She then uses brushes and sponges to strengthen the intensity of the acrylic. Steffi favours a marriage of opposites (horizontal and vertical lines, warm and cool tones...). In her abstract compositions, the rigour of geometric lines is in stark contrast with the intensity of colour. Vivid and bright, her works shine from within in a harmony of perfectly controlled tones.