German-born Kerstin Brätsch’s Para Psychic series springs from her intrigue about the number of psychic storefronts she encountered after moving to New York and the shelter-in-place constraints experienced during the COVID pandemic. Brätsch wanted to know, “How can I translate that [psychic readers] into painting?” and only use the materials she had on hand. Unlike previous collaborative works, the Para Psychic works were created in isolation and represented “a journey into myself” with imagery of birds, body parts, faces, and leaves. Brätsch uses acrylic frames to encase the readings of her mind as they float off the wall, held together with intrusive and exaggerated screws. Brätsch’s works are found in public collections worldwide, including Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; DESTE Foundation, Athens; Foundazione Memmo, Rome; Goetz Collection, Munich; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; La Caxia Contemporary Art Collection, Spain; LACMA, Los Angeles; MoMA, New York; Ringier Collection, Switzerland; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Stoschek Collection, Dusseldorf; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
