ESCH - Ekaterina Schridde, was born as Ekaterina Kostromina in 1983 in Mariupol near the Azov Sea. She first studied with Vladimir Miski-Oglu, a regionally well-known abstract painter and icon restorer. In 1999 the family settled near Hamburg, Germany. Shortly before graduating from high school Ekaterina did an internship at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. After graduation she trained as a media designer at fischerAppelt/Ligalux in Hamburg, studied Graphic Design and Media and Communication Management and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree. Since 2008 she has worked for several world class agencies in Braunschweig and Wolfsburg as an art director. At the same time, she always practiced painting and drawing, as she always felt her destiny here. Thereby she was influenced by her strong attachment to Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali, Vincent van Gogh, Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi, Frida Kahlo and Paul Klee.

I wish my paintings would lead to less suffering and more justice in the world. I don't just mean diseases, wars and climate change. I am also concerned with minorities and animals. Every living being on this earth has its raison d'être. And I convey this feeling in my works. 24.02.2022 was the day Russia invaded Ukraine and when I saw the pictures of my elementary school and my former home in Mariupol, where I lived until I was 15 years old, being razed to the ground, I felt a great need to express my feelings through painting and to show it to the world. Unfortunately the world is often gray and unfair, so I prefer to work with bright acrylic colors and create unusual color combinations. I also don't shy away from experimenting with brass particles, gold and glitter. I often build my own tools, for example using a 3d printer for the dripping technique cups. I like to go new ways and consider all possibilities when I have a goal in mind. It all starts with a blank canvas. That alone makes me euphoric! Because when I am dreaming about what can happen on it, the smell of acrylic paint surrounds me with warmth and pleasure and the painting process itself puts me in a trance. And then, when I wake up in front of it, I am often surprised when I look at the resulting picture. And then sometimes, I even feel less suffering and more justice in the world.


I had a dream. I was 8 years old again, still in Mariupol and went to school. It was February and I was wearing my beautiful red winter coat. At the long Poplar Avenue my girlfriend joined and we continued to walk together. We got to the traffic lights at Prospekt Metallurgov and waited for it to turn green. Suddenly a huge noise broke out, a car drove towards us and something popped very loudly. Someone around us shouted: Everyone on the ground. But I was paralyzed. And then everything turned black. Then I was 38 years old again and in Germany. I saw in the news my destroyed hometown Mariupol, the battleships in the Azov Sea and mass graves without end. My godmother called me and talked about Russophobia and the lying press. I argued with her for a very long time until I got tired. Then I woke up and it wasn't a dream.