NETA VERE Interview Pandora Graessl

Pandora Graessl is wearing a turquoise silk pleated top, purple flare trousers with a print somewhere a cross between a leopard and computer glitch, and a killer pair of cowboy boots. As usual, she has an assortment of necklaces and long, painted nails—today with a printed design. Her vibrant and highly aestheticized style is a visual extension of an artistic practice that spans participatory installations, experimental dinners, photo interventions, and fashion campaigns. After spending much of her childhood between France and Switzerland, she began her fashion career in Paris. After working as a producer among others, with Bureau Betak and Management Artists, Graessl founded her creative Studio in 2015. With Graessl Studio, she built a versatile portfolio and collaborated with brands such as Dior, Helmut Lang, Hood by Air, Saint-Laurent or Camper; photo- and videographers such as Daniel Sannwald, Johnny Dufort, Gaspar Noé and Larry Clark; institutions such as the Centre Pompidou; and publications such as Dust Magazine, Dazed, Vogues or M le Monde.

With saturated colors, strong light, and being informed by a community of collaborators, Graessl’s work creates space for visitors to engage in her visions and world of rituals. In a recent series of performative altars, visitors were invited to light candles and contribute their mark to what will make a collage of melted colored wax, a remnant of an offering. Through INCORP, Graessl and her partners pay homage to the collaborative spirit through performative meals staged as part of a residency at Palm Heights, Grand Cayman, Miami Basel and most recently Zona Maco, Mexico – that question humanity, spirituality, and sustainability. With Kira Lillie, Graessl recently released the ‘Guardians of the Dawn’ jewelry line that promotes a future that honors ancient sources of knowledge and a thoughtful relationship with the earth. More broadly, her practice acutely looks at our relationship with other beings to consider broader notions of connectivity and time.

Neta Vere sat down with her to speak about the role of ritual in her artwork and how time relates to her ideas on art, beauty, and life.

Neta Vere: How does your conception of beauty relate to your artwork? Your artwork feels very intuitive and allows for chance—there’s a surrender of control in many of the performances. There’s also this collaborative element that allows for these beautiful layerings.

Pandora Graessl: I used to be a producer and was very controlling. However, over time, I realized that I loved accidents and embraced the unpredictable. I believe in beauty by accident. I work with matter and texture that have their own personalities. Some of my pieces are participative and I never know what people will add to them, or how they will turn out—I am always pleasantly surprised. 
In fashion, there used to be this very standardized idea of beauty, which is now completely evolving and highlights everybody’s beauty. I always thought that you generally fall in love with someone’s weaknesses more than strengths—the little details that make them vulnerable and beautifully unique.
Beauty is a way of looking at things, and my work is a way of seeing and celebrating this world.

NV: Your mom is a professional makeup artist, so I’m curious if you had a distinct idea of makeup growing up that’s developed over time.

PG: From fifteen until twenty-one, I put on a lot of makeup–really black eyes and a ton of terracotta. My mom was desperate.
I don’t know why I shifted, but now I don’t wear much—lipstick maybe.  Like lip liner
I do go through phases where I’ll have a strong pop of color, say orange eyebrows or a bleached period, color mascara. a fantasy
But For me, makeup is something more extreme and professional that I don’t see fitting into my daily life. I also don’t have the patience. I never took the time to learn the “fundamental bases.”

NV: And for wellness?

PG: In terms of wellness, I have a more regimented routine. I’m obsessed with going to the spa and steaming—going from hot to cold, etc. it’s amazing for your system.  I also do massages on a regular basis and other types of treatments that are more ceremonial or holistic to work on the emotional body as well as the physical.

NV: It’s interesting because your artwork feels very holistic and spiritual.

PG: That is one of the main drives of my work. It has a lot of intentions.

NV: Could you explain this? I’m interested in your understanding of wellness and spirituality and if you draw divisions between how that relates to your work and life.

PG: When I started to take care of myself physically and mentally, I entered another realm. Taking time for yourself is vital; we tend to forget this with our hyperactive lives. We need to make time for breathing and listening to our bodies, our emotions. It’s those primal details we never were taught and maybe it’s our treasure quest to tune into it.
My work is an extension of my personality and my journey. Through it, I plant seeds that people can grow. I feel that society gives us such a limited vision of the world and I have always been interested in changing this, even since childhood. My parents are old souls,  I came into this world with tools that I always felt I should share them.
It is through self-discovery that we heal and I believe we’re all here to heal—ourselves, those around us, and the earth—from trauma & blocked emotions. It’s through my personal healing that I really got into my own art practice, so in that sense, my work has something quite sacred.

NV: Can you talk more about the role of religion?

PG: I’ve always been interested in religion in a general sense. The origin.I I love stories, especially beautiful stories that explain and invent the world in colors & mythologies. I travel a lot and have always been fascinated by temples and their gods across the world. I believe mythologies are way closer from reality than we think.
The main essence of religion has always been love, hope, and the power of thoughts – what we might call manifesting today. We can’t push people to heal themselves, but we can create a safe space for people to dream and imagine differently. I’ve also always felt a lot of attraction associated with my name—Pandora. The (real) story of Pandora’s Box is the story of knowledge and evil. She gave the world knowledge, so depending on your perspective and if you believe that ignorance is bliss this can be seen as an evil gesture. However, you could also see it as positively illuminating human minds. Everything exists with its polarity. 
I believe many artists are on a mission and are prophets of their own stories—we offer a perspective and give people the tools to let go or grow. There are no limits to what we can believe in and imagine. I am very interested in rituals around nature and energies, in the sacred aspects of these forces.. 

NV: In terms of visual references, where do you draw from?

PG: Most of my inspiration comes from ancient religion and traveling. I respond to my surrounding environment and I often look to culture more broadly rather than art history specifically. I grew up with Disney films and have always been attracted to fairy-tale situations and worlds. I adore Donkey Skin (1970) by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve. It has the most incredible clothes and sets—the color, the ritual, the playfulness… it’s visually amazing. I also love Alejandro Jodorowsky’s visions. Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising (1972) is one of my favorite visual expressions. Barbarella (1968) and Brazil (1985) are also big visual inspirations. I’m very much in visual worlds that convey a message of another time and space and that are often nonsensical yet offer deep meaning.