Edition VFO Art Podcast

Swiss painter Valentin Rilliet discusses his personal visual universe, which, in the tradition of magical realism, blends reality with the fantastical. He explains how he works with archival images and talks about his first experience with lithography.

Recorded on March 5, 2026, at Edition VFO in Zurich, this conversation between Julian Charrière and Prof. Paul A. Harris took place on the occasion of the book launch for After the Smoke Cradle. Reflecting on the exhibition and publication, the discussion traces Charrière’s long-standing engagement with volcanic landscapes, stone, deep time, and the material intelligence of the earth. It also addresses the development of the series of 99 photolithographs, produced in collaboration with the Zurich Print Institute and Steindruckerei Wolfensberger, in which ground volcanic matter was transformed into pigments and layered through lithographic printing. The conversation offers insight into the project’s conceptual and technical foundations, from geology and image-making to seriality, temporality, and the relation between landscape, process, and form.

Based on his edition “Mirage 1–6,” Francisco Sierra talks about figuration today and why seemingly harmless motifs such as sunsets oscillate between reality and kitsch. Humor as an attitude plays a central role in this.

Claudia Comte talks about her limited-edition work "The Absurdity of Contemporary Existence (hahaha white / black)", where letters become abstract patterns, oscillating between humor and critique. She explains the narrative character of her work, revolving around the environmental catastrophe we are currently living. The Swiss artist also discusses her approach to materials such as wood, marble, and inflatable sculptures.

French artist Isabelle Cornaro discusses the lithography series “Reproductions II (The Mannerist Edition),” Mannerism as a point of reference in art history, and the tension between supposed monochromy and multi-layered image structure. She also discusses translations between film, sculpture, installation, painting, and print, as well as the role of materiality and mechanical reproduction in her work.

Anaïs Defago talks in French about urban space as a source of inspiration for her sculptures, paintings and installations, about the role of photography in the creative process, and about the relationship between surface, volume and space in her work.

Stefan Marx talks about his artistic practice, which oscillates between typography and drawing, as well as his work in various media and genres such as painting, printmaking, porcelain, installation and design.

Artist Beat Zoderer explains the role that materials and imperfection play in his works and how his art relates to architecture, design and music. This podcast is in German.

Artist Mai-Thu Perret talks about the motifs of her edition of three etchings "Greek Lessons", her relationship to different media and the narrative character of groups of works.

Artist Camillo Paravicini talks about his use of different media according to the idea he wants to convey and how painting requires a completely different mindset and approach.