About

Hello! My name is Anna Maria Drutzel 

I am a multi-disciplinary artist and currently 

I live and work just outside of Melbourne, Australia...

somewhere between the dark forest and the modern city. 

You can visit my studio here if you like. 

A tiny, prettily cluttered corner of Dark Horse Studios

Many years ago, I studied Visual Arts, which encompassed 
drawing, painting, print making, photography, sculpture and film.  

I then studied Costume Making, trained with a Milliner 

and spent some time working in both fields.

So I am, both a Visual Artist and Maker. 

I am also a Performance Artist.

.

My artwork itself is multifaceted also, though it is driven, always,
by a constant desire to make beautiful works of art. 

I liken my art making to a kind of storytelling,
 a field diary of my explorations and interests.

I am interested in the deterioration of memory. 

The deconstruction of the man-made and explorations of the natural world.  

I am fascinated by the beauty of nature, alternative histories, 
'what if' scenarios and the possibilities of another world.

I enjoy exploring notions of reality and  of the imaginary. 

And the world of illusion fascinates me greatly.

I hold nostalgia for a more romantic time, harbour 
dreams of Utopia, and Art, I would say, is my religion. 

I am an avid collector. Of old things. Beautiful things. Strange and curious things. 

I love the work of Ernst Haeckel and artists like Rosalie Gascoigne, Joseph Cornell 

and Henry Darger, among many, many others. I am interested in obsolete craft 

forms, that no longer seem to hold any place... except in tiny cracks between 

the galleries. I love Dada. Surrealism. Bauhaus Design. And the wave of 

contemporary illustration and collage that's flooding the web right now. 

I love 'Primitive' Art, Folk Art, Naiive and Outsider Art. 

I love the art of children. 

I try to live a fairly holistic lifestyle. I enjoy spontaneity. I love adventures. 

If weather is nice I'd prefer we were outside than in front of a screen. 

I enjoy growing my own food and preserving that harvest. 

I'd rather buy second-hand, there's enough waste! 

I strive to 'tread gently' on this precious earth. 

I am a mother and, as a mother, I always endeavour to try and

see the world through the eyes of my child and discover who he is.

This notion can be seen weaving it's way through my art of recent years.

I spend a lot of time trying to find the perfect balance 

between being a mother and making my art. 

And I spend a lot of time thinking about the

'the common thread'.