Why did you choose mosaic as your main medium?

Ivan Ulmann: From a young age, I was into arts, painting, drawing, and sculpting. When I was in my early twenties, I got an injury from extensive stone-breaking, which resulted in tendinitis. This meant I had to reconsider my medium, as working with stone became impossible. Living in Portugal, I was drawn to its ceramic tile tradition. Mixing this with the influence of Gaudi and inspirations from pop art icons like Warhol, I started to make mosaics in my own style.

What kind of tiles do you use? Are they modern or vintage?

I buy traditional Portuguese tiles that come in various colors and designs. I break them into pieces and then shape them further. Afterward, I sand each tile piece to ensure they fit together perfectly without gaps, which could reduce the image’s intensity. The aim is to convey the broken effect without making it the first thing you notice.

The shift was particularly impactful since my entire family left Switzerland with me. This quest for a new beginning, a new “paradise,” shaped my life. It gave me the liberty, space, time, and resources to dedicate myself fully to art.

You are currently working on a large-scale theological project. Could you share some details of it?

During my time working primarily with sculptures, I felt constrained in expressing some ideas that I reflected upon. Creating large and detailed mosaic panels allowed me to convey such messages. Over the last seven years, I’ve produced eight large mosaics that explore the rise and fall of various empires that have shaped our beliefs, traditions, philosophies, and theologies. Often, we follow these beliefs without understanding their origins. This series encourages viewers to think about these influences on their own identities and beliefs.

Certainly, I start with multiple sketches. I then finalize the designs on a computer before transferring them onto wood. After sketching, I apply the mosaic based on the planned colors, contrasts, lights, and shadows. Unlike traditional painters who can smoothly blend shades, I can’t do this with mosaics. Just like in pop art, which is one of my inspirations, light and dark are separated by distinct lines.

What do you find most attractive about pop art and the related period in art history?

Pop art, with its vivid colors and iconization of celebrities, was truly revolutionary. It reflected the societal shifts of the fifties when technology began to play a more significant role. This art movement not only mirrored society’s progression towards modernity but also greatly impacted the marketing sector, reshaping how publicity was approached. Art influenced culture, which in turn impacted society.

Lastly, what does your slogan “Broken tiles for United Hearts” mean to you?

It’s about recognizing our imperfections. By acknowledging that none of us is perfect and we all have our flaws, we can find unity in our shared vulnerabilities. Famous or not, rich or poor, and whatever the color of our skin, in our brokenness and imperfection, we are all united.

Interview by Inna Logunova

13.10.2023

https://fineartshippers.com/artist-talk-ivan-ulmann-a-cheating-puzzle-maker/

For supporting public high quality art exhibitions and the exclusive work of the artist,

please click here:

MY STORY

WHERE THERE IS LIGHT, THERE ARE SHADOWS…

In the green valley, behind the seven mountains,

not far from the birthplace of the river Rhein in Switzerland,

on the thirtieth September nineteen seventy six,

I was born.

The brutal scares of the Caesarean section,

still reminds my mother daily on that day.

With 4,4kg and 54cm even the nurses noticed my gigantic statue in size,

so much, that they greeted my mother with:
“Good morning Ms. Ulmann, here is your Elephant Child.”

Which made my mother cry…

but the pain, like the tears,

dried up fast by the joy and love for me.

As a firstborn, of a carpenter´s son,

growing up in a hard working middle class family in the early 80s,

the importance of living values and building your character for better,

was transmitted to me by my parents,

like the bread on the table.

Daily, tasty and in good amounts!
In this secure, striving, creative and warm, productive inspiring environment,
I grew up.

But where there is light, there are shadows.
Clouds darkened the sky of my life,

when febrile convulsions hit me with 3 years of age.

On the long way to the hospital,

in the car of my mother, I fell into a deep Coma.

They told me years later, that the gods in white brought me back.

But maybe it was God himself that did not let me go.

I don´t know!

But the older I got, I understood that it makes less difference of what I don´t know,

than what I end up to believe.
Or to say it with the words of the apostle Paul
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.”

Music played an early role, when with six years of life,

I received a traditional Swiss accordion for Christmas.

Obviously and predictable, because all members of my big family, father’s side,
played instruments!

Still not knowing today, how to read music notes,

with eyes observing and ears listening,

a year after learning from a master and legend in his kind,

I played before thousands in beer tents and restaurants.

In the school years, I was a welcomed and socially well integrated boy.

Making, well behaved, my homework’s,

assimilating with the world, blending in, making experiences,

while having a lot of questions uplifting and torturing my mind.

Simultaneously, sport was a lot of fun, I played soccer in the
summer and skiing in the winter. The reader may know,

in Switzerland children are traditionally born with ski´s under their feet.
So I can say, I spent a lot of time in my youth in the beauties,

as in the wild dangers of nature.

Besides, speak the truth, or try not to lie,

be polite and kind to others, and do not steel,

one of my father´s other attitude in my childhood was often:

“what we can built together, we do not need to buy.”

What means,

I was inspired not only to use my head and heart,

but also my hands in all forms and ways.

With responsibility came freedom and the understanding

of how much impact our diverse relationships have

and how they shape our identities in mysterious ways.

Falling in Love...,

produced thousands of poetic letters to girlfriends
and falling in love again,

kindled even more of different creativity in my teenage years.

From writings, to drawings, to mixed media and stencil artworks,

I found and discovered infinite ways of how to express myself.

So much that I sympathized with the idea to visit the art school university.

But where there is light, there are shadows.
In the 90s, the seven years of plenty came to an end

and many sectors of the Swiss economic motor,

were regulated by state intervention.

So much so, that it literally killed the business model of my father,

who meanwhile had become a self made millionaire.
In this time, the financial storm was affecting my family tremendously

and the side effects, like the health issues of my father,
became very visual and painful for me to witness.

I understood that the times are changing and the winds are blowing strong.

Witnessing the financial struggle of my parents,

the light of innocence in me started to suffer,
but with eyes to the sky,

faith and hope did not completely disappear.

Art University was no longer an option,

but learning a solid profession became more important instead.

With sixteen years, I chose, to become a Swiss Cook in a five star hotel.

And I learn a lot!

Besides how to cook...,

I learned everything what I did not want to do with the rest of my life!

I also learned,

what it means to work twelve hours a day

and to study for school exams in your free time.

One morning, at a dark hour of my young existence,

while sitting at the breakfast table,

my father told us about a dream he had the night before.

In that dream,

we packed all our belongings

and took upon us the journey to find a new home in Portugal.

We were first astounded and all perplex,

but it´s what we ended up doing three years later,

including together with my younger sister.

Our personal Abrahamic experience in search for the promised land,

required from us to leave behind our birth place,

together with our social, religious and cultural familiar environment.

This experience shaped profoundly our thoughts,

minds and souls and offered us as a family,
a new hope and a new beginning.

I was 19 years old and free like bird.

For the first time,

I could see the horizon of the sea,

without being surrounded by mountains.
Everything was new, many things different.

And no knowledge about the language.

There was so much to learn and even more to reflect upon.

Inspired by the works of Antonio Gaudi,

we built our new home over the next seven years.

Over this time I was initiated into the secrets and techniques of a stone mason,

by an elderly Portuguese man.

I moved, handled and broke approximately 200m3 of stone.

And believe me...,

every stone is different from the other

and each one has a story to tell.

So much inspired to the point,

that I was even sympathizing with the idea,

to build me and my lovely Portuguese princess and wife,

a wonderful little castle on the hill.

But after seven years, the stones asked for their tribute.

My both forearms were diagnosed with severe tendonitis.

In the three to six months period of time,

where I was not able to use my hands for almost nothing,

I understood, that I have to leave the stones behind and move on…

Recovering from my handicap,

this was the moment, where the idea of my broken tile portraits arouse.

In Portugal, ceramic tiles have a long history and tradition.

Merging Gaudi with Warhol in the early 2000s was revolutionary,

compared to the Portuguese ceramic tile art tradition.

People were astounded and embraced with joy the exhibitions

that followed in the coming years through national territory.

I was surprised about the success

and that I was able to reach and impress

many national as international celebrities

with my broken pop art portraits.

Like the stones in the past,

the ceramic tiles too, had a story to tell.
Made out of “potter´s clay”, shaped, painted,

burned and purified by the high temperatures of fire,

their endurance and substance on the surface,

is harder than steel.

So hard, that they easily break!

The analogy between my broken tile portraits

and the fallen nature of man,

go hand in hand,

revealing the brokenness of each one of us.

Famous or not, rich or poor and whatever the colour of our skin,

in our brokenness and imperfection, we are all united!

Broken Tiles for United Hearts was born.

In this process of realization, the journey to seek for answers began.
What troubled my soul was the fact,

that if we are broken, what is it, that keeps our pieces together?

What is it that can make us whole again?

Life answered me with a miracle, with the birth of our son.

I never felt again, what I felt on that unique and special day.

The importance of education rose to the forefront of attention

and the responsibility that came with it,

grounded my feet back to earth.
I heard the inevitable call,

returned to the kitchen as a chef

and worked from early mornings till afternoon.

My portraits and early sculptures grew sometimes by day,

sometimes by night

and by every little free time in between.

Awareness of not only wanting to be an excellent artist,

but trying to be a good father, husband, son, grandchild, friend or neighbour,
made the task not easier.

But not less was and is my ambition.

Even being modest in many worldly things,

but in this,

I address the highest expectations,

to myself.

2008, after four years as a chef, the owner of the Spa / Restaurant closed the place,

through the collapse of the financial markets.
Shortly after, the austerity programs were installed

and later, executed in Portugal.

This was the time,

I thought it may be a good idea to become a full time artist again.

Today, looking back, I only can shake my head…,

but in actual fact,
I am basically a full time artist since 2008.

This caused in me an infinite hunger for knowledge,

research and study, so much,

that I had to combine the long working hours with my hands,

by simultaneously using my ears and brain to study.

The next seven years, I dedicated for the production of sculptures

in collaboration with Mr. Karl Heinz Stock from Quinta dos Vales.

We learned a lot and many ways, of how not to do it.

But we achieved, through tremendous dedication,

to lift the perfection of ceramic sculptures to a new level.

Creating an image in broken tiles is one thing.

Applying a broken tile image on a body is a completely different story.

In 2015, the amount of things accumulated in my head,

that I could not express on the body of sculptures,

created in me sadness and the idea to produce a epic picture collection.
“Babylonication”… or in other words “Babylon is fallen”… was born.
Bab = portal + el = god = portal to god
The word Babylon comes from Bab-ilu and means gateway to the gods.

8x 265cm x 195cm was just enough room to bring the accumulated thoughts to light.

In addition, 13 smaller pictures support individually the knowledge and message of the collection.

The inspiration for this collection originated from a book in the bible,

the book of Daniel.
It initiated in me, the possibility to combine the many fields

I was interested inter connectedly,

with the focus on Art, Theology, Philosophy, and Writing.

Complementary I touched fields in History, Law, Economics,
Education, Political- Science, Sociology, Eschatology, Archaeology,
Biology, Geology, Architecture…

The idea is with help of investors and supporters,

to travel these unique collection through many cities around the globe,

over a period of seven years,

with the goal,

to show and present the "Babylonication Collection"

to a large public and to as many visitors possible.

Another ART project is in the making for the 2030 FIFA World Cup

in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Please find more informations under this link.

Click here

The polymath collective conscience,

is made of many free individual minds,

and is in strong opposition

to what the religious, political, corporate

and technocratic authorities of today´s world,

wish for our future as a society.

When liberty of conscience dies,

we lose,

what makes us humans.

The more I think about this complexity, the less I know...

and the more I end up to believe…

“that we can only become polymath´s, by the grace of God.”

Exhibitions:

2024/ World seen through the eyes of Ivan Ulmann/ 10 year anniversary / Permanent Exhibition at Quinta dos Vales /Estombar / Portugal

2020 / Mundos Fragmentados / Centro Cultural Lagos/ Lagos / Portugal

2018 / Broken Faces/ Deja-vu Galleria / Ferragudo / Portugal

2017/ I.C.O.N.S Illuminated Creators Of None Salvation / Art Café Inglês / Silvés/ Portugal

2014-2024/ World seen through the eyes of Ivan Ulmann/ Permanent Exhibition at Quinta dos Vales /Estombar / Portugal

2012 / U2 & friends / Benamor Golf Resort / Tavira / Portugal

2011 / U2 & friends / Art Café Inglês / Silvés/ Portugal

2009 / United Leaders / Londot Gallery / Portugal

2008 / Broken Faces / Art Galleria Luz / Luz / Portugal

2008 / Broken Faces / Mercado dos Escravos / Lagos / Portugal

2007 / Broken Faces / Galleria Porca Preta / Monchique / Portugal

2007 / Broken Faces / Mercado dos Escravos / Lagos / Portugal

2006 / Broken Faces / Mercado dos Escravos / Lagos / Portugal

2005 / Broken Faces / Mercado dos Escravos / Lagos / Portugal

2004 / Broken Faces / Mercado dos Escravos / Lagos / Portugal

2003 / Broken Faces / Mercado dos Escravos / Lagos / Portugal

2003 / Broken Portraits / Centro Cultural de Lagos / Lagos / Portugal

Collective Exhibitions:

2024 / 50 years of 25th of April /  Centro Cultural de Lagos

2017 Mostra de artistas Lagos / MALA / Lagos / Portugal

2013 -2014 Travelling Group Exhibition “Passion” in all major cities in Portugal

2012 -2013 / Travelling Group Exhibition “Dance of the Bears” in all major cities in Portugal

2008 / Hotel Hilton / Vilamoura / Portugal

2006 / 2007 / 2008 / Mundo Mix PT, Cascais / Cidadela Cascais

2006 / 2007 / 2008 / Mundo Mix PT, Lisboa / Castelo São Jorge

2006 / 2007 / 2008 / Mundo Mix PT, Lagos / Jardim do Castelo

2005/2007/2009/2011/2014 /2017 Mostra de artistas Lagos / MALA / Lagos / Portugal

Publications:

-2023 Fine Art Shippers Interview

-ACS Magazine March/April 2018 Issue at acs-mag.com. Published by Renée LaVerné Rose (Publisher & Editor-in-Chief).

-2015 Entdecken Sie die Algarve / Interview

-U2 Revolution Book written by Mat Snow (U2 portraits as bookcover)

-2013 Publication in Travelling Group Exhibition “Passion” by Karl Heinz Stock
-2012 Publication in Travelling Group Exhibition “Dance of the Bears” by Karl Heinz Stock

- 2005/2007/2009/2011/2014 /2017 Mostra de artistas Lagos / MALA

Mankind since the beginning of time

was driven by the ambition to reach the heavens.

United in their motivation, tongue and voice,
they built towers and ziggurats, in the attempt to touch the sky.
Carried away by the hope to escape their fear, they believed,

they could be like the most high.

Meanwhile a bit more than four thousand years later,

their buildings are in ruins and their souls in the dust asleep.

On their places and upon their bones, new towers are decorating the horizon.

Towers made of steel, covered in glass,

are shining now from afar.

More than that, we erected digital towers,

towers of knowledge and data, monuments of pride,

to the point where we believe again,

that we can remaster and reinvent nature itself.
Tempted by the forbidden fruit of AI,

the blessings from the beginning,

may well transform over time,

into a new nightmarish curse again.