Andrea C Hoffer explores the House of Ambiences at Softbox Gallery

ANDREA C HOFFER’S latest exhibition, House of Ambiences, is a deeply nostalgic exploration of interior spaces.

The German-born, Tobago-based artist has again turned her gaze inward, creating works that evoke the warmth, history and the quiet presence of TT older homes.

This is Hoffer’s first exhibition dedicated solely to interiors. She said the idea came after visiting a house on Cotton Hill Road, St Clair, which stirred something in her.

“The surroundings of this place captured me – the shadows, all the elements around, the lighting, the floors and so on. It’s a certain atmosphere. And when I came back to Tobago I had all these memories from this place and they were so strong, I tried to bring it in a painting.”

That visit inspired the first and largest piece in the show. She thought, “Trini at home sweet home,” and the theme grew from there.

Each painting feels like a lived-in space and its elements – linoleum floors, circular ventilation bricks, well-used couches and morris chairs, shutters, room dividers, doors with frosted glass panels, and potted plants – could be seen in many older Caribbean homes.

Plants feature prominently in her work, and her life. She said her studio in Patience Hill, Tobago, is surrounded by greenery, and she feels as if she lives in a big garden.

“That’s why I like plants in my interiors. It’s not just rooms and walls and lines and constructions. They break it up a little bit.”

The exhibition’s 14 pieces were all painted using egg tempera, an ancient technique that involves mixing pigments with egg yolk and linseed oil. Hoffer stretches and primes her own canvas, then makes her own paints.

“It’s very earthy. And the technique allows you to wash it out with water, leaving stains on the canvas. You can work layers over layers with this technique.”

What makes her process even more remarkable is that, rather than sketching a scene or taking a photograph, she paints entirely from memory.

“When I go around and when I get a feeling for a place, I just trust the process – that I’m working in the right way, in the right proportions. I just start, and when I’m painting, it just comes for itself.”

One of the paintings centres on a door from her daughters’ great-grandfather’s home in Moriah. The door, she said, survived Hurricane Flora in 1963, and she retrieved it before he passed away. Many of her works incorporate fragments of the lives once lived in these spaces – small details that carry stories.

“I love elements like this. Elements with history, that witness the passing of time like old chairs or tables or poofs (ottomans) that have been in the family for generations in some cases. I love these things because you hardly see this anymore.

“And I collect all of this. My husband says I’m collecting garbage but it’s not. For me, I love these pieces. I have them in my studio. I have them in my house. I find them very inspirational to put in a still life and interior.

“And because I was visiting (Trinidad) and saw so many places, I just had such rich memories to do the whole show.”

She said she wanted the exhibition to feel like a house with 14 rooms, each one carrying its own atmosphere, and its own sense of time changing.

“They are not designed like modern houses where you have your vase and everything is matching. These houses are like growing treasures over generations. You have something from grandpa and grandma, and all these things come together.”

Hoffer first came to Tobago in 1996 while travelling through the Caribbean with friends. Then a master’s student under the late Prof AR Penck at the prestigious Kunstakademie Dusseldorf, she found the island inspiring – its nature, landscapes and sea views – and painted as much of it as she could.

“I decided I’d make a huge piece named Tobago for a big group show and decided, ‘When I sell this piece, I’ll come back to Tobago and work for three months.’ And so I did, and did landscapes.”

Her first solo exhibition in Trinidad was in 1997 at Gallery 1.2.3.4. at the Normandie Hotel in St Ann’s, curated by Ronny Joseph. Since then, she has shown her work in Germany, France, Spain and Austria, living between Düsseldorf and Tobago.

“I still have my studio in Germany because I have all my contacts there, but all my paintings I do in my studio in Tobago with themes from Tobago, because here is the right place for me to work. It’s so inspirational here.

“But, of course, I’m European born so some elements of it is inside too, but most of the themes are from TT.”

Unlike many local artists, Hoffer’s paintings lack defined outlines. The egg tempera technique allows her colours to merge softly, creating a dreamy, layered texture.

“I’m not thinking. I just have an idea how the original colours were and try to use brushstrokes to give this impression of it, rather than trying to draw it.”

She describes her work as a combination of impressionism, abstraction and realism, all working together to create an atmosphere rather than a literal space.

“In this way you (the viewer) can bring your own imagination into it. You can go on your own journey because everything is not so concrete. I don’t want to make the painting so that I tell you what to see.”

Before becoming a painter, Hoffer studied costume and stage design at the same academy, working in theatres across Europe from 1992 to 1994.

She told Newsday she never thought to be a painter but she was always creative. And when she met so many painters at the academy, she started to paint herself.

In 1994, when she finished her degree, she was offered a great job to travel to Korea with a theatre group, but she realised she did not want to deal with the personalities of actors and directors. Even though her friends and family did not understand, she rejected the job offer and made the decision to become a painter.

“I quit everything. Everyone said I was crazy, but I wanted to direct my own thing. It was a hard decision, but I felt I had to step out of it.”

By the time she finished her master’s degree in 1999, she had exhibited large landscapes of Tobago in several European galleries. She continues to work on expansive canvases, which she said make her feel free.

Her next exhibition of interiors and landscapes is already being planned for 2026 at Ernst & Young in Essen, Germany, a gallery she has worked with since her student days.

Even after nearly 30 years of painting, she is still passionate abut her work.

“I can’t stop. It’s like breathing. I need to do this. What I have to do is always on my mind and when I work on it (a piece) I’m actually surprised because I never know what will come out of my paintings. I just know the starting point.”

House of Ambiences runs at Soft Box Gallery, St Clair, until November 29.