Severina Seidl

Maleficium is an evocative exploration of despair and hope, rooted in Severina’s lifelong connection to Krabat, the novel by Otfried Preußler that profoundly shaped her youth. Drawn to melancholic narratives, she was captivated by the story’s interplay of black magic, death and fear, contrasted with the redemptive forces of love and transformation. The duality of darkness and light recurs throughout her practice. Storytelling is integral to Severina’s creative process, often unfolding unconsciously. Maleficium became a way to express her emotional connection to the book responses that usually remain hidden, like artefacts stored in museum archives.

At the heart of her practice lies the fusion of painting with embroidery. In Maleficium, the softness of stitching meets the rougher, sculptural qualities of painted surfaces, generating a textural interplay between order and disorder. Each section has its own colour palette and material identity yet together they form a unified composition that guides the viewer through emotional transition from despair to the quiet emergence of hope. Dark, abstract panels conjure emptiness, fear and uncertainty before moving into sculptural and brighter passages where gold appears as a symbol of renewal and hope. Ravens, mysterious and ominous, while butterflies embody transformation and fragile resilience. Through raw edges and intuitive mark making, Severina celebrates imperfection crafting a work where beauty and darkness quietly coexist.