Gina Stephan Animator and Filmmaker from Berlin, Germany

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed painting and sculpting. I was involved with the arts through regular art projects at daycare, children’s art classes, and through my father’s knowledge of the arts. My fascination with animation developed over time. As Cornelia likes to say: you always get many clues in life, that run together like small creeks to form a raging river, that will carry you off in the right direction if you allow it. One of these small creeks leading me towards animation was children’s television. I watched my favorite shows and movies over and over again. They were mostly 2D animated stories that had been brought to life frame by frame through elaborate, lovingly drawn images. Another source of my interest was a presentation on animation that I did at school. In order to be able to give a better presentation on the subject I quickly decided to simply produce a stop-motion clip. And from here on my interest only grew. While I was on my year abroad in the US, I found out that you could study animation as a degree. During my visit to Universal Studios, I was impressed by the effort and dedication that is behind most films. And so the river carried me off towards animation, a limitless form of expression that breathes life into your ideas and allows you to share them broadly.

I was put in touch with Cornelia through a fellow student at film school. During one of the Zoom talks Cornelia held for us, she mentioned that she was starting an artist in residency program in order to regularly give young artists the opportunity to fully focus on their work. She specifically invited animators from the film academy Baden-Württemberg to a workshop with Raul Garcia. This made it possible to visit Cornelia’s Residency and to meet some of the talented artists there.

Time seems to pass a little more slowly at Fraggina, even if it went by much too quickly in the end. You find time and space to be creative without feeling too much pressure. The environment encourages you to focus on your passion(s). This is how I got back to keeping a diary again:

‘ ... if you ignore the street for a moment, where a garbage truck is loudly battling its way up the hill, Fraggina is like an oasis I have become privy to, and it now seems crazy to me that people drive along this road, not knowing what lies hidden beyond the next few trees. It makes sense, where Cornelia’s stories come from when you see her home and meet her person. Presuming fairies in every bush, admiring insects, playful and surrounded by creativity at all times, believing in rebirth and with the hope of maybe being a witch after all ...’

I brought back a revived love of drawing and illustrating. Also the hope that you can achieve a similar calm in your own daily life and to take the time to be creative. And of course the new friendships with talented, likeminded artists and the expectation that we will see each other again soon, cook and draw together, garden or do whatever we might feel like.