Artist Statement: Ursula Kolbe on "When I Remember You, Beloved Tango" | Ursula Kolbe

“When I remember you, beloved tango” - the title of this exhibition - is a line from a tango lyric by Argentine poet Enrique Santos Discepelo who once said, “Tango is a sad thought that can be danced”. I’ve been dancing tango for years, but it was only when for medical reasons I could no longer dance, that I began to find a way to represent feelings about tango in my artwork. I started by transforming used tango shoes into sculptures and assemblages. These slowly evolved into a series “Mi Noche Triste” (My Sad Night - the title of a significant tango song). The paintings then followed, enmeshed with written words appearing as fragments of tango songs or a dancer’s bittersweet memories. My interest is not in representing actual appearances, but memories of emotional experiences.

Ursula Kolbe 2009