Meet Katrin Czinger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katrin Czinger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katrin, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.

Risk goes hand in hand with life and death! If you want to experience life to its fullest, you must love. Loving with all your heart makes you vulnerable, but also incredibly rich. Putting all your eggs in one basket, having skin in the game, committing to a person, a profession, a sport, a life where you can lose it all, is risky!

Take my situation: I considered my family and whatever comes with it my life’s work. And then our beloved daughter, my best friend, dies by suicide. Am I a failure now? At times it certainly feels that way. Thankfully, I know best that I gave it my all—we were so close—how could this have happened? We will never know for sure, but mental illness has a mortality rate. In my opinion, the one pill that was prescribed to her the day she passed on made her detach from all she loved and made her forget why she fought so hard for five weeks…. What I want to point out here is that it is risky to love without holding back, but how thankful I am that I could love this child and was loved by her all my life. I had the best of the best, and even as my heart is broken and probably will be forever, I am certain my life and the risk I took to love with all my heart is reflected in my work and makes me who I am and will sustain me!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a sculptor now, but I would have never chosen this profession; life just led me to it. I have endless admiration for artists who choose this life. Trying to make a living off their art without killing it or losing their confidence is extraordinarily hard. I would not have been this brave.

When I was younger, I was a journalist, a television producer, and I worked for UNICEF and German television. I had a fixed income. I loved it. I could not believe that I was in a position where I was getting paid for something that I loved so much. Then I had Antonia, this little torpedo, this fireball, this blessing of a child, and suddenly there was something I loved more than my job. I would have liked to have kept a finger in the business, but I couldn’t find anything that was a match and would have justified me being away for hours from my daughter. Kevin was traveling a lot or working late, and I felt that at least one parent should always be available if possible. Of course, I was incredible lucky that I could have even considered this option!

Antonia’s brother, Lukas, was born in London two and three-quarter years later. It was so much fun living there! What a different place it was in comparison to America and Germany — everything from eating to how to speak was new. London had a very active American and German Expat community which was important for me because my husband was traveling so much. They made it feel like home.

My way to stay fulfilled on top of being with my children and husband was to take classes and be engaged in my community. I took photography classes in London and screenwriting classes in New York. I became a certified Yoga teacher in Cleveland and took writing and improv classes in Los Angeles. The most fun class ever was with Antonia at the Groundlings! I have never laughed so much in my life — she was amazing. What a spirit, so smart, funny, and energetic.

I also had the privilege to serve on the board of Amistad Academy, a public charter school, in New Haven for 13 years!

When we moved to Los Angeles and Lukas entered 10th grade at Harvard Westlake he chose amazing art classes, and I became envious. As a result, I enrolled myself into Brentwood Art School around the corner from our home and took up sculpting. That was 13 years ago. All the classes I have taken throughout my life so far benefited my family. I taught Yoga to all of them. We also sculpted together, and I also take credit for Antonia’s and Lukas’ excellent writing lol. I wish….

My sculptures reflect my life experiences, the places I lived, and the wonderful people I have met. They depict the amazingness of life, how everything is connected, and the role faith, fate, and spirituality play.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am from Germany, from West Berlin, a city that doesn’t exist anymore because of the reunification of Germany in 1990. Let’s say my friend is coming from my home city. I would be so excited to show her all the easily accessible sun-filled beauty of Los Angeles. We would hike or bike in the Santa Monica Mountains, do a beach walk in Santa Monica, visit the Venice boardwalk, and hang out at the skateboard park there. We would then stroll on Abbot Kinney, pop into Flugvogen shoes, and maybe have lunch at Gelina’s or The Butcher’s Daughter.

I would bring her to Busto and Sun, one of my favorite hat shops in Topanga, founded by two men from Venice, Italy. We would check out all the little shops, and I am sure my friend would admire the setting of the Inn of the Seventh Ray. We might have lunch or a cup of tea there.

She would also have to see the Arts District downtown, as well as Disney Hall, LACMA, the Getty, and most importantly The Wende Museum in Culver City. It was created after the fall of the Berlin Wall by Justin Jampol, a Los Angeles native who was studying in Berlin after the wall fell. The GDR existed only 51 years. He was worried that all of its artifacts would disappear. Now, the Wende exhibits brave shows about all sorts of human rights issues. Giving transparency through art is a high, exciting calling, and I think they execute that vision very well.

At night we might catch a show at BroadStage in Santa Monica and dinner at one of our local favorites: Solidarity, Sushi King, Forma, Golden Bull, Cassia, or Calabra.

Of course, we would hang out in my sanctuary—our garden! I would love to show off my sculptures, explain them to her, and enjoy them lit up at night while sitting in the hot tub. I do have to say every garden is better with sculptures. I love how the animals embrace them. They are outlooks for birds, lizards, and even squirrels. Our cat Maximus loves to chase around them or hide behind them. It’s fun to see!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My daughter, Antonia Karlotta Czinger, who died by suicide in December 2023, is the reason I am giving this interview. It is my goal to change the conversation about suicide and mental health in general. There are still many who believe suicide is a choice — a decision that has been made by that person — but that is BS. It is a disease like cancer, and just like we know now more about how to treat cancer we need to learn much more about how to treat the “derailing of the brain”!

My sculptures are my way to communicate my thoughts about life: what is important in this world and how to maneuver within it. I feel I am sculpting philosophy. Beauty and meaning go hand in hand.

Early in life, I read Hermann Hesse and Erich Fromm, and they shaped a lot of my world view. Their teachings are my security blanket to this day. I love Hesse’s poem “Stages.” Check it out!

A shout out needs to be given to Yale Law School and to its dean at the time, Guido Calabresi. Yale Law School is where I met Kevin, my husband, and Dean Calabresi had our whole church congregation pray for us. It seems that it worked so far — it was 38 years ago.

Of course, my parents deserve credit. I’ve been lucky; I seem to have gotten good genes and had a healthy upbringing.

My son, Lukas — I’m trying to live up to the high standards he expects from me, especially after Antonia’s crossing into a new world. I always felt that our children should be better than we are, and with that, I don’t mean better off, but better humans. I think I succeeded here.

Antonia was an incredible person. I often thought, when I looked at her radiant, tender face as a child, “What kind of adult will you become?” I couldn’t be prouder of the person she became. She was sincere, witty, and kind. Friends described her as magical — she really was and is. Even now, I feel she is sending out her wings to all she loved: should they be down she will lift them up. She is also a warning to everyone – parents, siblings, friends — because if something like this could have happed to her, it could truly happen to anyone.

One of her favorite poems is by E.E. Cummings: “I Carry Your Heart With Me”. I recite it daily. It is my NorthStar. “I carry it in my heart, wherever I go you go, my dear, whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling….”
Knowing that this is true makes me a better person and sculptor for sure!!

Website: katrinczinger.carbonmade.com

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Image Credits
There are lots of people who deserve credit for my projects:; my amazing, fun, knowledgeable, art teacher, Adam Matano, all the talented models: Eve Mobley, Shadia Elise, Kathiuia Dias, Elly Dallas, Zantana Zorelle and more. I also work from photos the face in 20/20 vision is based on Amanda Gormans. The faces in my my Transcendency piece are based on: Antonia, Lukas and Kevin Czinger, Masih Alinejad, Tina Turner, Brigitte Bardot, Jackie Chang, Barack Obama and many friends. The ghosts, I will not name. Without JP Art Foundry and its artisans nothing would look so amazing!