Roland Ulrich

Future Vision

“The Fifth Dimension” Series

The artist: My artistic quest is to open a path—through color and form—into the spiritual reality that many of us have lost sight of today. Large areas of our life suffer from this lack of vision. Rudolf Steiner, in the twentieth century, was the first to establish a new way of schooling ourselves for a renewal of cultural life into the future. This is the path for a truly modern consciousness.

A basic impulse of modern art’s avant-garde at the beginning of the twentieth century was to do more than represent the physical world. Through symbolism these artists wanted to make visible again the invisible qualities of the spirit, without impinging on people’s free will. Color and forms were meant to speak for themselves—out of beauty and authenticity. The true picture behind the material picture is hidden and requires the active seeking of the beholder. This picture does not need interpretation. It must be able –from out of itself—to speak to the human heart and soul.

I consider myself to be in the tradition of modern art that wishes to communicate the message of the spiritual, in an appropriate form. My paintings are meant to show a path into the future, where the eternal spirit—the invisible behind the visible—reconciles all things and beings with one another. This is the great transformation of the spiritual, with Christ at its center.

Art should never become an end in itself. It is the mediator between spirit and matter. Paintings must express belief, love, and hope. Only then will that become truth which the great master of art, Rembrandt, wrote in his diary:

“God expressly did not complete His creation. In His endless love and wisdom He gave it over into human hands. The artist has the lofty duty of persevering in his art with this completion of creation. This work is the difficult work upon the eternal image of Man. This is the challenging path into the spirit.”

Biography: Roland Ulrich was born in Kamenz, former East Germany. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry and Agriculture and is a member of the German Gardener’s Guild. Roland has worked extensively with the resources of nature, primarily with the bio-dynamic approach to agriculture and environmental protection. He discovered Anthroposophy in 1982.

He served seven years as engineer with non-governmental agencies in developmental projects in different parts of Africa: Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Lesotho. He also travelled and worked in other regions such as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Israel where he observed and studied the "artistry" in nature.

Roland regards his work with nature and his art as an attempt at their reconciliation. Currently he works as a farmer at the Fellowship Community in Spring Valley, New York. His artistic work began in 1984 with writing poetry and later, paintings. Although he has no formal academic training he studied and worked on his own for many years.

In Germany he has exhibited in anthroposophical hospitals and retirement homes and recently completed his first American exhibition at The Fellowship Community.

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