Verena Mayer-Kolbinger

From Perception to Form

My artistic journey as a highly sensitive woman

I come from a family where creating with nature was a matter of course – but in very different ways. My parents were florists; my mother was an artist, intuitive, sensual, connected with colors and forms through flowers. My grandfather was an orchid breeder, analytical yet adventurous. He moved between breeding labs, greenhouses, and botanical expeditions into the world’s primeval forests. His blend of passion and pragmatism deeply impressed me.

Roots in Nature – Two Ways of Seeing

These two poles – intuitive feeling and structured observation – still shape my view of the world today. Above all, I learned early on that the essential rarely lies on the surface. I am interested in the in-between, what resonates, what is not immediately visible but has an effect.

I was a highly sensitive, anxious, quiet, and imaginative child – often overwhelmed by the facets of the world, but rich in inner images. Art quickly became my refuge, my language, my anchor. For a long time, I felt ‘different’ until I realized that every perception is unique – and my way of seeing the world is not wrong, but the foundation of my artistic path.

After two Waldorf schools, I studied communication design and illustration at Konstanz University of Applied Sciences. In Prof. Peter Andermatt, I found an important mentor – he encouraged me not to design, but to tell stories.

Orchids and the Art of Self-Assertion

Since my diploma thesis in 2000, I have been exploring the essence of plants. Orchids in particular (not because of their flowers) have always guided me: one of the largest and most individual plant families on this planet. No other plant genus shows so many adaptations to its environment. And yet they are extremely delicate. They only reproduce, thrive, and bloom if the circumstances truly suit them – I’m talking about natural species, not cultivated hybrids from the hardware store.

In these plants and their sensitivity, I have always found myself: in their clarity about what they need to thrive – and in their refusal to bend.

Illustration – Resonance in Lines

Alongside free painting, illustration has remained an integral part of my artistic everyday life. Making the subtle, deep thoughts of other authors visible – translating them into lines, surfaces, and expression – is a fulfilling form of artistic storytelling for me. My illustrations can be found in numerous national and international publications.

Initially, however, I chose a different path: I became a designer and later managed my own agency. But with every assignment, I moved further away from myself. Art was still there, but adapted – functional, purpose-driven. I felt that I didn’t want to continue like this. That I would lose something if I didn’t remember what defines me.

Daily Painting – Daily Reconnection

I have been painting daily since 2014. I have found my voice – not because I have become louder, but because I have stopped suppressing it. In art, I can live my high sensitivity, show my depth, and at the same time free myself from expectations. I paint to connect with life – and to share what resonates within me with others.

I live with my husband and our two children in Germany and Canada. The density and structure of Europe on the one hand, and the vastness and tranquility of a small island on the Canadian Atlantic coast on the other, reflect my inner balance. My work emerges between these two worlds – in the rhythm of the tides, in the pulse of everyday life, in colors that tell what words cannot express.

Exhibitions

incomplete list

Verena Mayer-Kobinger
Exhibitions

2014 – “Bird Worlds” Markstahler Elegantes Wohnen, Karlsruhe, Germany
Solo Exhibition “Birds Want to Fly”, Susanne M., Stuttgart, Germany

2015 – “Cloud Worlds” Markstahler Elegantes Wohnen, Karlsruhe, Germany
Art Market Gabelsberg, Stuttgart, Germany

2016 – “Petals” Markstahler Elegantes Wohnen, Karlsruhe, Germany

2016 – Member Exhibition Kunstraum Neureut e.V., Germany

2017
“German and Austrian Artists” A&D Gallery, London, UK
“Peace” Group Exhibition, Galerie Kerstan, Stuttgart, Germany
“Mama, Monks and Marigolds” Galerie Waterton, Chicago, USA
“Vacation Love” Plan 5, Karlsruhe, Germany
“Peace” Group Exhibition, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, USA
Member Exhibition Kunstraum Neureut e.V., Germany

2018
ARTe, Fair for Contemporary Art, Sindelfingen, Germany
Solo Exhibition “Flowers”
Modern Art Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany
“Vacation Love Florida” Modern Art Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany
“Vacation Love Nova Scotia” Modern Art Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany
Marigold, Kunstquartier Leonberg, Germany
Lecturer “Academy for Contemporary Art”, Tübingen

2019
Art Fair ARTe, Stuttgart, Germany
Group Exhibition “Spring Awakening”, Kunstquartier, Leonberg, Germany
Group Exhibition “Memento Mori”, K2, Copenhagen, Denmark
Lecturer “Academy for Contemporary Art”, Tübingen

2021
Solo Exhibition “Plant Beings – Investigating Nature”, Kunstraum Neureut e.V., Karlsruhe, Germany
“Lighthouse and Sky”, La Goélette à Pépé, West Arichat, NS, Canada

2023

Modern Art Gallery, Karlsruhe, Solo Exhibition “All about Joy!”
ART Karlsruhe, Germany
“Alchemy of Life”, The Cline House Gallery, Municipal Gallery, Cornwall, Canada
“ArtGenossen”, Member Exhibition Kunstraum Neureut e.V., Karlsruhe, Germany
“Merry Minis” Group Exhibition, The Clinehouse Gallery, Municipal Gallery, Cornwall, Canada

2024

Annual Juried Exhibition, The Cline House Gallery, Municipal Gallery, Cornwall, Canada
“The Balance Between Joy and Fear”, Modern Art Gallery, Karlsruhe, Solo Exhibition
Art3F Art Fair, Galerie Böhner, Strasbourg (France)
Kunsthaus Frölich, Stuttgart, Exhibition
“Think Big”, GEDOK Karlsruhe and BBK/W Stuttgart, Orgelfabrik Durlach, Group Exhibition

2025

Kunsthaus Frölich, Stuttgart, Exhibition 25 Years, 25 Artistic Positions

Galleries

Modern Art Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany
Kunsthaus Frölich, Stuttgart, Germany
The Cline House Gallery, Cornwall, Canada
Galerie Waterton, Chicago, USA