The “lockdown“ hit us suddenly and there was a strange silence.

What weekday is today?
What should I eat today?
What do the statistics of infections say today?

Every day the same in the same surrounding.
Everything was still connected but human beings, groups and nations started to separate even more.
“Social Distancing” became reality.

I felt thrown-back to myself and what lives inside of me.
My surrounding – my home and studio – suddenly got very small.
So, I went back to the beginning – my origin.

REBUILDING: MOTHER AND FATHER is a series of works, that depict my view on the historic figures of mother and father in 6 abstract objects. 3 pairs of shoes – 3 pairs of female shoes and 3 pairs of male shoes, all relics of the past – are used as source material for each of the objects, which are all encased in box frames.

Anita Steinwidder (b. 1973, Judenburg, Austria) is a visual artist based in Vienna. She holds a degree in architecture. She established her internationally acclaimed fashion label STEINWIDDER in 2002, focusing on conceptual refashioning of textile waste and second-hand clothing for 15 years. Since 2014, Steinwidder creates three-dimensional artworks being a continuum of her artistic language. Her inspiration evolves from dealing in depth with coincidentally “found items;” objects relating to her rural origin, as well as other items corresponding to her very unique understanding of something being “of value.” For reassigning meaning, form and function of these found objects she uses techniques of creative interventions. Doing that, she portrays them in a new, unusual context. Her works have been shown in several exhibitions in Shanghai, Beijing, Havana, Colombo, London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna. At the 2011 Austrian Fashion Awards, Steinwidder was awarded the “Vienna Chamber of Commerce Fashion Production Prize,” and the “Green & Clean Fashion Award” in the same year. In 2012, Steinwidder won the “Modepalast best of 10” Prize. Her works are being held in several private art collections. She lives and works in Vienna, Austria.