Claudia Grünig ARTICUL CTION A C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t R e v i e w Special Issue world in which the laws we are familiar with are suspended. Another interesting project of yours that has particularly impressed us and that we would like to introduce to our readers is entitled Aliee, and we really appreciate the way explores the themes ofidentity, stability and fragility, to shed light our own understanding in the context of gender identity and self-identification. We dare say that your artistic research draws from direct experience to distill its epiphanic aspects: how important is for you to create artworks rich of allegorical qualities? Claudia Grünig: First and foremost, I like the kind of pictorial language that is expressed in allegories. Even more than their reference to a specific meaning, I appreciate the playful aspects in the use of allegorical elements. Allegories have a long tradition in art history. In painting, artists have always used them to clarify complex content through pictorial symbols and metaphors. The representation of allegories offers a means to paraphrase abstract concepts and make them understandable. In this way it creates an image that can be experienced. However, the creation of my works is never based on rational considerations. I follow my intuition. It is by no means necessary that I understand in detail what is going on in my pictures. They provide information on an emotional level. And so I do not think about the meanings of symbols before I create pictures. They find their way into my pictures on the basis of their optical and imaginative qualities, which enable me to create a pictorial language that corresponds and is close to me. Later, the symbolism certainly