Title: Fritzi – The Danish Girl, 2021
Size: 110 x 80 cm
Material: Acrylic on canvas

The work goes back to the film Fritzi The Danish Girl. It depicts the identity formation of a young man who underwent the first gender reassignment. The artist wanted to show the figure between masquerade and self-revelation, blurred and shy. Against a delicate pink-green background, a portrait emerges: a person in a bright green garment, whose face is only suggested – soft, unfinished, almost translucent. The large earrings are made of glued silvery shiny foil and colored paper. They are an important detail of the portrait. They should sparkle like small mosaics and reflect the care with which the clothing was chosen. These earrings contrast with and are central to the diffusely painted face, which oscillates between androgyny and femininity. A voluminous, reddish-brown headdress frames the head like a crown and enhances the presence of the figure. With this work, the artist tells of an identity in formation and transformation. The moment when a person discovers that clothing is more than disguise, but an expression of their true inner nature. Between vulnerability and strength, the transition becomes visible: finding the self in the mirror of society.