At the first sight, the subjects of Katrin Plavcak’s paintings seem to stand within an European neo-figurative tradition, which consciously tries to break from those traditions of modern painting that lead - in some way or another - straight to abstraction. Modernism is regarded as the prevailing system that is met by a certain ”pittoresque” attitude. That also means a return to the concept of figure as such. At the same time, however, the representational function of this new figurative painting shows a certain discrepancy in itself, due to ironical treatment or conceptual alienation it experiences. Therefore, it basically remains opposed to either modernism or to those artistic schools that surpass painting as well as sculpture. Wealth and cheerfulness are being confronted with a certain critical reductionism. Plavcak´s painting seems to grow from this point. Regarding the subjects and their realization, the viewer at first has the impression of the artist´s lack of fear and her vigor. Still, the various motifs at the same time seem somehow frail. They very often resemble snapshots of the artist´s mental eye that were taken with a millisecond´s delay. Jumping dogs, twisted body parts or faces, whose expression seems to vanish at the very moment of observation. It may also simply be enigmatic because of its ambiguity. There is view of a demonstration, where an oversized object has moved into the foreground. The effect is that of an interrupted film. Yet it is not a film still and not a photograph, but a painting that remains in movement and that, set in time, does not have a beginning nor an end. Not even the impression of a single moment can thus arise in the observer. No content, therefore, may manifest itself. A better description of the painting might be that of the feeling which characterizes the moment of waking and opening the eyes.
Still blurred, the images perceived are on their way to, but not yet appear as, interpretable pictures. Content comes only after that and takes its time. Moreover, it does not result in some kind of narration, but rather in something that is fragmentary and open to all sides. On some of the paintings, like on Geister, there also appear abstract figures or ornaments. Yet, instead of adding anything to the painting, they seem to remain on their way to its completion. One self-portrait, Obskure Melancholie, shows tears that at the same time conceal their story. The head thus appears as a barrier for the seashore scenery in the background. The babies in Klonies withdraw from any differentiation between foreground and background. By this, they become some kind of ornamentation, comparable to wallpaper. The painting, as a pattern, could thus continue infinitely. The ironic content of Merkel mit Kalb is almost entirely absorbed by the clear division in the painting and the antagonisms of color. In cases like that, the work shows qualities of a very reduced and minimalistic kind. In the portrait bB, the intense look to the side has to compete with the clearly structured surface. On several occasions, Plavcak has applied big drawings to the wall in her exhibitions, right in between her panel paintings. An over-dimensional astronaut, drawn around a corner, a jellyfish, a truck. Here, what matters most, is not the introduction of new figures or characters, but the installation as a whole as well as the relativization of the painting as the sole bearer of narration. Forms from the world outside are not being put in the painting as stories - their content remains fragmentary and secluded. Thereby, the viewer is deprived of grasping any meaningful whole and is left with nothing save - only fluent impressions. The artist seems not so much concerned with the stories in her paintings but rather with the idea of painting as a surface arrangement. This results in a permanent oscillation between the different levels, creating some kind of tension. The motifs have a touch of Ready-Mades to them or that of a random mental object, that happened to be found. They are deeply meaningful or almost alarming, yet completely trivial at the same time.
There is a wall covered with patterns of a “Volks-Hausschuh” (slipper) that, very alike minimalistic geometrical forms of painting, shape the background. To me, this seems to be symptomatic for the entire work. The basis, respectively the background, of this kind of painting is by no means easy to determine. Abstract painting is not met by some kind of reversed logic. Its terrain is not even left. It is, on the contrary, arranged together with images. Yet, it is not possible, to reduce the different themes to one program. Looking at this art, the history of painting cannot be divided into different states. The artist deals openly with the objects, to an extent that the medium does not depict anymore, no matter whether this concerns figurative or non-figurative representation. A permanent flow tends to allow all possibilities and to not dismiss any aspect. At the same time, the feeling of too many and not enough pictures is counteracted. Especially painting has always been classified in terms of intentions, that might stand behind it. In the case of Katrin Plavcak this proves to be difficult, since as a categorization this would limit her work way too much. She makes use of a massive repertoire of artistic possibilities and merges whatever she found incessantly. It is not until after all these processes and arrangements, that the big space that is her program opens.