Bianca Barandun

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

Splitting my time between Germany and Switzerland and participating in artist residencies in places like Mallorca and Viborg (Denmark) has had a significant impact on both my life and artistic practice. These changes in setting provide ongoing stimuli and fresh perspectives, exposing me to varied environments, rhythms, and cultural contexts. This helps me engage with my work in a more reflective way.

My practice includes printmaking, painting and sculpture, and I have recently started exploring installation based work. Being in different environments continually challenges me to adapt and experiment, which fuels the ongoing evolution of my practice.

This movement across places is also mirrored in my education: I studied Print at the Royal College of Art in London, Illustration at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, and Scientific Illustration at Zurich University of the Arts. Each location and discipline has shaped my understanding of space, structure, and storytelling. The contrast between urban and rural settings and the distinct energies they bring, deeply affects how I work. It influences not just the content of my art, but also the rhythm and pace of my creative process.

Ghost Note explores the idea of memory as something that exists in the pauses, silences, and in-between spaces. What led you to use this musical concept as a way to frame your personal recollections?

Ghost Note exhibited at the Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, Switzerland and curated by Sophia Nava, is rooted in my own memories and observations of a flock of sparrows in the garden of my family home in Switzerland. It explores how memory is verbalised and questions whether it can truly be captured through language, especially without relying on forms and colours. I am drawn to the in-between spaces where thought becomes sound and memory shifts between image and object.

In music theory, ghost notes are quiet or intermediary beats that add texture, groove, and dynamics to a rhythm. The project Ghost Note investigates this concept both in content and methodology. It focuses on the unspoken, the implied, the pauses, stumbles, and hesitations that are essential components of memory and significantly influence how we think, act, and understand the world.

The interplay between presence and absence fascinates me. Like music, memory often unfolds in fragments, lingering in the spaces in between. It is not fixed, but fluid, dynamic, and deeply subjective. This is where my interest in memory lies. As with a musical composition, stories are shaped by intensities and shifts in tempo, depending on how present a memory still is. From this, my own unique rhythm of recollection emerges.

 

 

Your work often shifts between organic and geometric forms, playing with ambiguity and anthropomorphic qualities. How do you see this visual language developing through your sculptures?

My visual language evolves through a process of gradual abstraction often beginning with drawing and later transitioning into three-dimensional work. I work by redrawing forms, deciding which lines to retain and which to let go, teasing the shape into being while intentionally withholding certain information. This process allows the form to emerge slowly, shaped by absence.

My practice often explores transitional states moments where one condition transforms into another. For example, when thought becomes sound, memory shifts between image and object, or form moves from drawing into sculpture. I am fascinated by what information remains and what is inevitably lost in these acts of translation.  In this context, I deliberately move between two- and three-dimensional work, for instance translating forms from scientific illustrations to wall-based sculptures, and from free, gestural oil stick drawings on transparent organza into ceramic or wooden sculptures. These works reflect material transformation and carry forms across media, always with the intention of preserving the original essence of an idea or shape, even as it inevitably shifts.

You describe your practice as combining and alternating methods to see what happens when materials are used unconventionally. Can you talk about a recent material decision that surprised you or changed the direction of a piece?

Before my project Ghost Note, I had limited experience working with wood, so the process became both a valuable learning experience and an opportunity to gain new insights into the material and the tools used to work with it. Naturally, I encountered a few surprises and challenges along the way.

Working from my sketches, I created precise drawings for each element, which I then scanned, plotted, and transferred onto sawn wood planks, some still with their bark. One element was assembled from multiple planks.  As I worked, I noticed that some of the planks warped, which meant I had to carefully consider which pieces I could combine in a single structure to ensure its stability. During the hand cutting and grinding process, I realized that each piece of wood reacts differently, and some finely cut elements were especially prone to chipping. Additionally, as an organic material, wood continues to shift and change with temperature variations. Since I was committed to not using glue, this presented a significant challenge. Moving forward, I may need to reconsider that decision, but for now, it remains an open question I continue to reflect on.

 

 

Tell us a bit about how you spend your day / studio routine? What is your studio like?

A substantial part of my studio time is dedicated to research, reading, writing, sketching, and experimenting with new materials. After this initial phase of collecting ideas, I need to gain a clear overview. I do this by laying out all my sketches, side by side, either taping them to the walls or spreading them across the floor. Seeing everything at once helps me identify connections, patterns, and potential directions. From there, I begin selecting the sketches I want to develop further into finished works.

The appearance of my studio changes rapidly depending on the process. When I shift into production mode, I arrange materials and tools in a specific way that allows me to move quickly from one piece to another. This setup is essential, especially because many of the materials I use have a short curing time, sometimes just a few minutes.

Exploring, experimenting, and continually learning about different materials and techniques is at the core of my practice. The less familiar a material or process is to me, the more it attracts my curiosity. I’m especially intrigued by what occurs when I combine or force materials together, when the material starts to develop its own language.

What artwork have you seen recently that has resonated with you?

I recently saw Isabelle Krieg’s artwork «Urschnur», exhibited at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland. Her work fascinates me, particularly the way she captures significant themes with poetry or wit, distilling them with striking clarity. Her practice moves between installation, sculpture, photography, and performance, with poetry, humor, and a touch of the uncanny woven throughout.

Is there anything new and exciting in the pipeline you would like to tell us about?

I am currently in the midst of developing an entirely new body of work for my upcoming solo exhibition, opening on October 23, 2025, at Marc Bibiloni Gallery in Madrid.

I’m incredibly excited about this show, which will feature an installation incorporating a wide range of materials and different types of work centered around the theme of birds. The gallery space is phenomenal, offering the perfect setting with its natural light and ample room to experiment and push the boundaries of my practice.

And it is a real pleasure to work with Marc Bibiloni and his team, whose support allows me the freedom to fully explore new ideas and take risks.

NFO: Ghost Note: installation at Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur 2024 curated by Sophia Nava, Fotocredit: BKM, Foto: Thomas Strub