Translation:
My Mother's Dresses: Former Cusanus student starts
Corona art project
April 8, 2021, Article by Silke Elbern, General Anzeiger
Editor Bad Godesberg / Wachtberg
Susanne Nielsen in front of the canvases showing her mother in
dresses she created herself. Photo: private
Bad Godesberg / Florida Susanne Nielsen graduated from the
Plittersdorf Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium(NCG highschool) in 1976 as the child of
(German) diplomats. When her parents had to leave Bonn (for a new posting), she
stayed behind to attend Bonn University. From her home in Florida, she has now
completed an unusual art project in collaboration with her 91-year-old mother
in Germany.
Susanne Nielsen left Bad Godesberg for the United States 38 years
ago, but she never let go of her connection with this city district (of Bonn,
the former West-German capital). As a diplomat’s child, like so many other such
(international) children at the time, she attended the
Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium (high school) in the Plittersdorf neighborhood and
over the years, was able to reconnect with many of her 100 fellow high school
graduates from (1967 -)1976 (the GA reported, https://ga.de/bonn/bad-godesberg/sie-lebt-in-florida-und-sucht-klassenkameraden_aid-42318061). The
63-year-old German-American artist is also a member of Godesberg Facebook
groups and recently posted one of her works of art. Strictly speaking, twelve
works of art in one: What is so special about this project? In each painting
you can see her mother in a dress she created herself.
"This was our Corona project," says Nielsen in a phone
interview with GA.de. The beautiful woman in the pictures is now 91 and
continues to live in Germany. In the past twelve months, mother and daughter
have been in touch via video calls to Florida (Whatsapp), for two hours every
day. “We started talking about her dresses,” says her daughter, who is a
college professor of art. Her father (Dr.) Otto Schmidt had worked for the
German Foreign Service as an economist. "My mother had the role of social
representative," says her daughter, a little sadly.
(because…) Her mother would liked to have become a fashion
designer.
Anneliese Schmidt's passion has always been sewing, she would have
loved to get into the fashion business. “Since she first had to take care of her
sick mother, she had apprenticed to become a pharmaceutical technician,”
explains Nielsen. But her mother’s part-time job with a photographer kept her
with immersed in the world of fine fabrics. After marrying the diplomat
Schmidt, however, Nielsen's mother took on the role of partner. "It was an
important part of the occupation to receive up to 50 guests a month and to host
meals," said the daughter.
Her mother wanted to shine, of course, but her husband's employer
didn't provide an extra budget for all that was needed in this profession. “So
my mother sat down at the sewing machine at night and sewed all her own clothes
herself.” Initially she used upholstery fabrics and silk gowns of Nielsen's
grandmother. In 1967 the father was posted back to the Foreign ministry’s
headquarters in Bonn (,Germany). The family, in San Francisco Nielsen’s brother
had been born, lived at Goten Strasse 144, (in Bad Godesberg) directly across
from her (high)school. "On the one hand that was practical, on the other
hand I would have loved to have been a bus commuter kid," Nielsen said.
All her Barbie dolls wore the dresses her mother had sewn for them.
The social obligations continued, and throughout her mother also sewed clothes for the daughter - and all her Barbie dolls. “I still have them,” says Nielsen proudly. During their phone calls, an idea came to Nielsen, to honor the most beautiful clothes - including her mother wearing them - on canvas. “Not an easy undertaking, because many of them were in black and white photos only.” They discussed the project with each other and then Nielsen picked up a paintbrush. Every month she created a portrait on unstretched canvas in the acrylic technique, the size of each 6x1 ft (200 cm by 0.60 cm). Why not framed? “My art should be easy to transport and to display, I want to be able to carry (my paintings rolled up) under my arm,” says the trained Humanities instructor.
She laid the foundation for her university career in Bonn, where she studied English literature, art history, and education. When her parents moved to Switzerland in 1975, she remained in Bonn. In 1983 she moved to the US with her husband, an American USAF fighter pilot. Now that the Corona paintings are completed except for a few small details, she plans to also recreate the actual dresses. “The entire project shows all my appreciation of my mother’s accomplishments, and also for the creativity of ALL the other post-war women.” If everything goes well, she wants to board a plane to Germany in August with her art. As always, Bad Godesberg will be a stop on her trip
Susanne Nielsen in front of the canvases showing her mother in her
own dress creations.
Susanne Nielsen also writes a blog where she reports on her life
as a university instructor, artist and journalist: http://susannenielsenarts.blogspot.com.
