Regina Anzenberger

Roots & Waltz was inspired by a walk through the forest in the Danube riverlands in Vienna. It all started during the pandemic, when we were stuck in Vienna and a friend took me there. Having grown up in the countryside and having lived in Vienna for over 30 years, I had been used to leaving the city when I longed to be in nature. It was at this point that I noticed that my Viennese friends who grew up in the city tended to go to the Prater-Auen - Vienna's ‘Central Park’ – which used to be the emperor’s hunting grounds more than 100 years ago. I have always found this area a bit spooky, but I knew the forest there was very wild, and that the forms of nature I usually look out for would be wonderful there. My work reflects my life. After the pandemic, the war in Ukraine began. Conditions had changed for the whole world. I asked myself about the essence of life, the roots and the future of the planet. The forest has always given me a lot of energy and I felt my soul begin to dance as I walked through the Donau-Auen forest – one could almost say that, in my mind, I was ‘dancing to the Blue Danube Waltz’ …

Roots & Waltz is the fourth installment of a series of books dedicated to nature and the mirror of the soul, following Roots & Bonds (2015), Goosewalk (2019) and Shifting Roots (2020)