Title: Pina

Date: 2024

Description: The portrait depicts Pina Bausch (1940–2009). The painting was inspired by Walter Vogel’s photograph of a young Pina in a rehearsal room, practicing at the barre, and is part of the artist’s PhD thesis. Before painting the portrait, the artist decided to get closer to the figure of the choreographer and participated in the workshop Poesia e necessità nel movimento in Ostuni, Italy.

“It was very hot. Two colors dominated the landscape: the blue of the sky and the red of the earth. On the third day of the workshop, during the morning session, we were doing an exercise in pairs. I closed my eyes, and a friend led me to a fig tree. As I touched the leaves of the plant, I felt Pina’s delicate presence. I began to cry. I had the impression that I was being held by her.”

Pina captured her working method in one simple sentence: “I just look at them. That’s all, perhaps.” Her method—based on action through inaction, and creating a creative space through mere presence and mindfulness—is the essence of the feminine, which drew the highest potential out of her dancers. For a dancer, the body is the fundamental tool of work.

In the portrait, the choreographer is depicted with a “strong stance,” symbolizing being grounded in the body. Her wide-set feet evoke magnets or suction cups. This position provides stability and grounding, further emphasized by her outfit in the color of red clay—the earth of Ostuni. The suspended gesture of her arms stirs the layers of air. Her left hand points to the energy center.

Technique, dimension: oil on canvas, 130 × 110 cm

First showing: 2026, Alina Foundation

Ownership: Monika Waraxa