Golden Horizon, 2024, created in France, Ercourt, and Zurich, Switzerland

"Golden Horizon," the new series of oil paintings by Viktoria Köstler, invites viewers on a journey to the edge of imagination and reality. Each piece features a landscape that stretches infinitely towards a horizon line, not merely painted but gilded with genuine 24-carat gold. This striking element serves as a luminous boundary between the known and the unknown, a nod to pre-Enlightenment beliefs when it was thought that the world ended at the horizon. Beyond this line lay the uncharted and the unseen, realms of endless possibility and fear.

Viktoria Köstler's work is deeply rooted in the idea that, throughout history, humanity has harbored a relentless desire to uncover all mysteries. Yet, she suggests that there is profound beauty in the unknown, in choosing not to grasp everything but to live within our own crafted illusions. The golden horizon in her paintings symbolizes this choice — the gold not only adds physical depth and richness to the artwork but also serves as a metaphor for the value found in embracing the mysteries that lie beyond our understanding.

Viktoria also invites people to find comfort in the balance between reality and the illusions we cherish. Life provides a lot of dualities, let us accept and integrate the good and the bad.