We move further and further away from the many wishes and desires and are amazed to discover how little material substance Silvia Bächli needs in order to magically captivate us: some well-tempered brushstrokes, suitable paper and a viewer who is willing to engage with the artwork and is also prepared to perceive him- or herself during the in depth observation of the colours and surfaces and to follow with curiosity the flow of their own thoughts and sensations.

The pictorial reflection in sensual dialogue, be it with a dense, forceful red-brown, a reedy green or a luminous apricot, leads us to a crucial question: What do you, the

picture, do with me? Where are you taking me? What memories do you connect with me?

Markus Stegmann, from “In the Lee of Time – On the New Works on Paper by Silvia Bächli”, Museum Langmatt, Baden, 2023

Where should the line begin? What direction should it take? What are its qualities? Does it follow its own line, or does it expand to delineate an area? How does it continue after these first decisions have been made? Is the first line followed by a second, and even a third? On a more fundamental level: What materials are to be used? How large is the paper?

Konrad Bitterli, from “Beginning”, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, 2024