Sigrid Thaler is an Italian artist living and working in Milan whose practice unfolds through movement, recollection, and environment. She was born in Italy and grew up in a small mountain town, a setting defined by altitude, quiet, and slow-changing light. Those early surroundings shaped her awareness of space and atmosphere, as well as her sensitivity to the subtle relationships found in nature. Over the years, her path widened far beyond that initial landscape. Time spent living and working in Austria, Paris, Singapore, and São Paulo introduced her to a range of cultural languages—from Northern European restraint to the layered intensity of major global cities. Rather than pulling her away from her roots, these experiences deepened them. Thaler’s paintings today reflect this accumulation of places, where natural forms, architectural structures, and human presence meet through light, material, and gesture.
Shimmer through the Branches (2026)
39.5 x 39.5 inches
Gold leaf, acrylic, enamel on canvas
“Shimmer through the Branches” represents a turning point in Thaler’s recent body of work. In this square-format painting, gold is not used as embellishment but as an active element within the composition. The surface is layered with 22, 23.75, and 18 karat gold leaf, alongside precious artisanal imitation leaf, acrylics, and enamels. As the viewer shifts position, the painting responds, changing in tone and intensity.
Gold has long been central to Thaler’s visual language for its ability to capture and release light. In this work, it functions almost as a framework. It moves through the composition like a current, slipping between branches and foliage, sometimes catching sharply, sometimes receding into darker passages before returning in brief glints.
The color palette is deliberate. Plum and blush tones introduce warmth and depth, sitting in quiet contrast to the reflective surfaces. These colors feel rooted in nature yet remain open to interpretation. Branches extend and cross. Leaves gather and scatter. Within this layered structure, birds and small animals appear—at times clearly formed, at other moments suggested rather than defined.
There is no single point of emphasis. The painting encourages the eye to travel, to slow down. As details come into focus, the experience shifts from surface beauty to something more reflective. The shimmer becomes less about luminosity alone and more about interrelation.
The idea of connection underpins the work. Branches behave like veins, carrying energy across the canvas and linking plant and animal life into one continuous system. Gold, often associated with sacred or symbolic traditions, operates here as an equalizing force. It does not privilege one element over another but moves freely across all forms.
Despite the richness of materials, the painting maintains a sense of calm. The balance between color and metal creates a soft glow rather than visual excess. The animals seem protected within the network of branches. The scene feels held, composed, and quietly alive.
In this painting, Thaler draws together memory and influence. The imagery recalls forested mountain landscapes, while the use of gold gestures toward European artistic traditions. The result is not nostalgic. It is a reflection on light as something that binds, carries, and connects.
New York 2 (2025)
23.6 x 31.5 inches
Collage, acrylic, enamel on wood
Where “Shimmer through the Branches” is grounded in natural space, “New York 2” turns toward the built environment. Part of a four-piece series, the work continues Thaler’s engagement with New York—a city she understands as constantly in motion, layered with lives unfolding at once.
In this painting, the skyline is distilled into structure. Buildings become containers. Windows act as frames. Fire escapes run across facades, creating a web that organizes the surface. Constructed from collage, acrylic, and enamel on wood, the work has a tactile, assembled quality. Unlike the open flow of gold in the earlier piece, this composition is intentionally segmented.
Within these segments, scenes emerge. A writer sits at her desk, words imagined as moving outward into the city. A harpist plays. A dancer practices. A boxer trains. Someone moves along a fire escape. Another eats alone late at night. A figure walks through rain. Each moment exists within its own space, yet none feels isolated.
The fire escapes act as connective tissue. They cross and overlap, suggesting links between lives that never intersect directly. Thaler renders them almost as living systems, implying that even separation participates in a shared urban rhythm.
Light functions differently here. Rather than reflecting across a surface, it glows from inside windows. The city is held together not by landscape but by human activity. A rising sun appears at the edge of the scene, hinting at continuation and renewal.
During the making of this series, Thaler listened to “New York” by Alicia Keys. The music’s emotional pacing echoes in the painting’s balance between solitude and collective presence. The city hums quietly rather than loudly.
Though the subject is urban, the approach remains intimate. Thaler avoids spectacle, focusing instead on small, lived moments. Each window contains a story. Together, they form a portrait of the city as a place of parallel lives.
Between Forest and City
Across these two works, Thaler moves seamlessly between natural and urban environments. In one, gold filters through branches; in the other, light glows through windows. Both examine connection—whether ecological or human.
While her materials change, her focus remains consistent. She is drawn to systems: roots, structures, shared rhythms. Through gold leaf and collage, she explores how individual lives and elements remain linked.
From the quiet of mountain landscapes to the pulse of the city, Thaler’s work invites reflection. Her paintings ask the viewer to pause, to notice light and shadow, and to consider the threads that quietly hold different worlds together.
