Artistic work

Stephanie Balih's art deals with the worlds of dream and reality, and the thresholds in between.

Her motif focus is mainly on the human portrait.
The thorough exploration of the human psyche and the reflection of individual emotional worlds through the medium of painting in acrylic and oil are the focus of her work. The portraits go deep under the skin and beyond. They are far more than mere illustrations:
they are poignant depictions of people who seem to have a life of their own. The liveliness of her facial expressions and gestures create the illusion of a counterpart for the viewer.

The artist draws her inspiration from her dreams as well as from encounters in everyday life, life itself and the questions that arise from it.
She mostly works in series. At the beginning of each work there is usually a fixed idea, recorded in writing and sketches, as well as a concept for the composition of the picture, which can change in the painting process.
The artistic approach is figuratively expressive, the brushwork and the choice of colors bring the pictorial space to life, lending it freshness and lightness. Stephanie Balih's work plays with painting and drawing, with wateriness and pastosity,
with detail and blur.
The artist likes to paint outside the box, sometimes even far beyond the edge of the picture, breaking open the boundaries of the painting
and steps into the auditorium.
A special feature of Balih's paintings is the preliminary drawing in the color phthalo blue, which in all her paintings flashes from subtle to strong between the layers of paint. - Phthalho blue runs through Stephanie Balih's work like a blue thread.

music

For the artist, music is the opposite of painting. The two forms of expression, visual arts, painting and music, are mutually dependent in the artist's work.
Stephanie Balih's music picks up where her visual language ends.
When she paints, she is very quiet and in her own world. On stage she can sing the message out immediately and inspire her audience in the here and now. She sings strong and present and performs with ease. Her guitar seems inseparable from her like a part of her body. Stephanie founded Balih in early 2014 with her life partner Alex Dolphin
the band THE KNUTSHERS. www.theknutshers.com