Lena Göbel: Transmission im/mobile

Upper Austrian artist Lena Göbel works with traditional printmaking techniques—woodcut and etching—combined with painting and collage. The result is artwork that blurs the boundaries between media.

Göbel transfers her designs onto various types of wood with different degrees of hardness. These often include traditionally used or weathered wood, various found objects, or historical wooden objects. Particularly noteworthy is her use of historical wood, which serves not only as a material but also as a vessel for history and memory.

In her current series “Lost in Transmission,” Lena Göbel combines personal memories with artistic expression. Wooden objects, such as old cider barrels or a gate from her grandfather’s workshop, become the canvases for portraits of relatives who bring her own family history to life. Lena Göbel artistically explores the transmission—or passing down—of narratives and experiences across generations. This also includes the role of women in the 1950s, who subtly assert themselves in a male-dominated world.