A painter of Swiss origin, Vestara Psod has made a name for herself in the contemporary art scene through her remarkable mastery of oil painting and her deep attachment to classical traditions. Trained in the rigour of academic drawing, she places the live model at the heart of her approach. Each work is born from an encounter in the studio, where pose, light and time interact to reveal the essence of the subject.

Nothing is fixed. Everything is attentive.

Music flows through her work like a constant breath. It does not appear as a simple motif, but as an inner presence. Vestara Psod does not just paint musicians: she paints the silence after the note, the concentration, the sacred fatigue that follows practice, and the almost carnal relationship between the body and the instrument.

His paintings capture those moments of abandonment when the body, stripped of all performance, rediscovers its vulnerability and grace.

Influenced by the masters of the 19th century, her work is distinguished by its subtle rendering of materials: the warmth of a cello varnish, the softness of skin, the sculptural drape of silk. By combining demanding classical technique with deeply contemporary compositions, Vestara Psod invites the viewer into a space of calm and contemplation, where time seems to stand still.

Faced with these works — oil paintings on canvas where bodies exist fully — we heard, inwardly, the echo of Sainte-Colombe, Chopin, Erik Satie… sometimes Barbra Streisand, sometimes Kate Bush whispering: “Deep down, in the depths, there is a light.”

In an era marked by tensions, unrest and brutal upheavals around the world, this voice of living things is a precious gift.

Vestara Psod, “Young Woman Sitting on My Desk,” oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm – 2025. The model is Imke Embach, a friend of Vestara Posd and Artemis Irenäus von Baste.

Let us first consider this oil painting as we would in a quiet room.

What immediately strikes you is the restraint. Nothing is spectacular, nothing is offered head-on. The body is naked, yes, but it is never exposed: it is folded in on itself, almost protected by itself. The posture speaks before the flesh. We sense a very strong interiority, a young woman absorbed in a simple, almost domestic gesture — wiping, tying, holding a cloth — as if the outside world had momentarily disappeared.
The presence of the cello in the background is crucial. It is not decorative. It creates a counterpoint, a silent breath. We cannot hear it, but we know it is there. Like inner music, or a sound memory. The books close off the space: it is a place of thought, of study, perhaps of chosen solitude.

The painting is deeply classical in its mastery, yet utterly contemporary in its perspective. There is no provocation, no heavy-handed references. Vestara Psod does not seek to comment on the nude: she inhabits it. The modelling is soft, almost tactile, the light caressing without ever emphasising. Time seems suspended — we are very far from any anecdotal narrative.

What I feel above all is a great silent dignity.
A body that asks for nothing.
A gaze that does not seek ours.
And, for the viewer, an invitation to slow down.

Natascha and Team Lumen