Martina Schettina


Martina Schettina is an Austrian artist. The main part of her work is Mathematical art.

Life

Martina Schettina was born in 1961 in the district Währing in Vienna. Her father was a mathematician. She spent her childhood in the Viennese district of Leopoldstadt, where she attended a primary school in “Parzmanitengasse” and the grammar school “Bundesrealgymnasium Vereinsgasse”, where she passed school leaving examination with honour in 1979.
From 1979 to 1983, Schettina studied mathematics and physics at the University of Vienna and was an autodidact in painting. In 1989 she established her atelier in Langenzersdorf near Vienna and since 1992 has had exhibitions in Europe, USA and Asia.
She studied at the Summer Art school Geras with some famous Austrian painters. These were 1993 Ulrich Gansert, 1994 Peter Sengl and 1995 Hubert Aratym. She also studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. In 2007 and 2008 she worked with the Chinese Artist Xiaolan Huangpu. Schettina taught from 1984 till 2007 at a high school in Vienna. Since 2008 her paintings have been periodically published in the newspaper Kronen Zeitung on Sundays. Sometimes her paintings are printed in the newspaper Kleine Zeitung.
Schettina finished teaching in 2007. She works and lives in Langenzersdorf, Lower Austria, and also works in Vienna.
Since 1992 her artworks have been shown in Austrian and international exhibitions. Her first single exhibition outside Austria was in 1999 at the Mots & Tableaux-Gallery in Brussels. Her paintings and sculptures has been shown in many exhibitions in museums and galleries in Europe, USA and Asia and were shown at art fairs such as Art Expo New York City, Art Vilnius, CIGE in Beijing and at Art Shanghai.

Work

In her narrative and figurative work, Schettina concerns herself with the position of women in the community. She challenges the validation of the role models of men and women in the past and today. Because her bodies seem to be transparent, Schettina is called the painter with the glassy hand. Her work is influenced by Pop-Art. Her painting "Orange Dress", which shows a self-confident, modern woman, was shown on the poster of the 2009 exhibition "City. Country. Woman." in Museum of the City Krems, Austria.
From 2008, Schettina has dealt with mathematical themes, which she transforms to paintings.
In December 2009 the book Mathemagische Bilder containing paintings and essays was published in Vienna. Schettina also shows performances about mathematics, which are illustrated by her paintings.
Works in the private HMZ collection Spielfeld, Austria and the collection Helmut Klewan Munich/Vienna.
Sculptures are found in Skulpturenpark Artpark Linz and in the public space of Poysdorf.
Artwork by Martina Schettina is also preserved the Museum of Lower Austria, the Weinstadtmuseums Krems, the Hanak-Museum in Langenzersdorf, the Oskar Kokoschka-Museum in Pöchlarn and the collection of the city of Vienna.