Openness as Practice

Mathis Neuhaus: To begin with, I wanted to ask about your experience of and perspective on St. Moritz.
Stefan Marx: My view of St. Moritz has only really sharpened in recent years. Before I first went there, I knew the usual clichés, which weren’t necessarily negative but were shaped by radio, television and stories from my Swiss friends. I knew a little about the artistic and historical relevance of the village, its importance for winter sports. Then in the summer of 2021, I went there for the first time and it turned out to be an incredible place. Since I didn’t get to experience the glitz and glamour of the winter season, I discovered St. Moritz as a quiet, wonderfully scenic mountain town in the Engadin. Perfect for drawing and swimming. The Lej da Staz is my favorite spot.

Would you agree to call it a place of longing?
I think so, yes. I look back fondly on my visits, the walks, the short hikes and the swims. When I see the drawings I brought back as souvenirs, I know exactly what kind of feeling they carry.

You mentioned the lake. Are there other places or things that bring back memories?
Over the last couple of visits I’ve started paying more attention to Engadin sgraffito, which I find phenomenal. I’ve since read extensively about it and spoken with people familiar with its history. You come across those wall motifs again and again, also in St. Moritz.

Do you also draw them?
I’ve copied a few, but I’d like to go deeper into it. Constant Könz, the 96-year-old great-uncle of the owner of the gallery Stalla Madulain, still practices the craft. It would be interesting to do a project with him, also because I want to be mindful about cultural appropriation as a German illustrator. I’ve been interested in craft techniques and traditions for a long time. I also painted porcelain at KPM in Berlin.

And was there a particular spot at the Kulm that you felt especially drawn to?
The lobby is incredibly beautiful and I kept sketching and analysing its patterns. After breakfast, I would always go there to spend some time, absorb the atmosphere and draw. My room, too, was such a wonderful bubble that I didn’t really want to leave. And the spa — lying on the terrace, looking out from the pool into nature. Once the wind was just right and you could watch airplanes from the pool. That brought so many of my interests together. I also loved the morning mist over the lake, and I always opened all the windows in my room as soon as I woke up. The view itself was a spectacle at any time of day.

Let me ask a broad question. Do you feel more drawn to the sea or to the mountains?
I grew up in Northern Hesse in Germany, in what they call the Hesse Highlands. They’re really just hills, 350 meters tall. From a Swiss perspective, it would be un-thinkable to call that a mountain. As a child, we vacationed by the sea, and I only got to know real mountains much later, through my Swiss friends who took me on trips from Zurich. St. Moritz was something special again, with its altitude right at the tree line. What I find especially fascinating are the mountain lakes. I love swimming, and when you’re in the water with mountains rising around you, it feels magical.

That already answers my next question: summer or winter?
I’m not a skier, and while I’m sure the Engadin is absolutely stunning in winter, I especially love summer for the chance to draw outdoors. I like to sit down in a meadow and sketch a couple of horses grazing there, or the lake. I just don’t like doing that when it’s cold.

Do you sometimes draw from photos, or does it have to be live?
What matters most to me is the live moment. Now and then I’ll take a photo as a reminder, but not often.

How does your work in the field relate to your work in the studio?
It’s completely different, starting with the formats. I always carry a small notebook that I like to work with, along with A4 paper as a sketchpad, plus a pen. I even take it with me to the airport — basically everywhere. I also enjoy drawing people I see on the subway in Berlin. In the studio, I’m more of a painter. It’s a different medium and a different materiality. Drawing for me is a daily practice; it just happens. I used to get frustrated when I didn’t have anything to draw on while being on the move. There was a time when I designed flyers for parties, and to reproduce them they were photocopied. I kept a stack for myself and used the blank backs for drawings. That was before my notebook practice. Eventually, I designed my own notebook with the publishing house Hatje Cantz, exactly to my specifications, and I’ve been using it ever since. I have piles of filled notebooks. For trips, I always start a fresh one, and on the first page I write where I’ve been. It might say: St. Moritz, May 2025. And when I return home, I start a new one again.

What advice would you give to help us take a closer look?
Drawing is looking. Drawing is thinking and observing details. Nowadays, everything is full of distractions, and you have to keep freeing yourself from them. Figuring out what distracts you is something everybody has to do for themselves, and then work on it. I’ve been drawing my whole life. I always wanted to draw in the in-between moments, when other people might get bored — waiting for something, or standing in line. My partner always says, “Stefan, you’re basically never bored.”

Your works are very recognisable. Did it take you a long time to develop your style?
The drawings change, the themes change, even though of course you have your own style. If you look closely, the lettering from 2005 looks different from the lettering in 2025. But yes, it is a kind of style. I don’t really work hard to maintain it. I often try to push it further or change it, or simply do whatever interests me at the moment. I’d say it has taken up until now to find my style. And tomorrow it evolves further.

You recently made your handwriting available as a font that people can buy and use. I imagine that must have been an interesting process, trying to standardize something so personal.
Yes, and also opening it up so that others can use it. Maybe even for purposes I don’t like myself.

That shows a generosity in dealing with your artistic identity. Also, when you think of your colouring book planned for Kulm. The hope is that children, and adults, will take it up, use it and make it their own.
I like that you call it generosity, because that’s how I feel about it too. Many people advised me not to make my handwriting available to everyone. But it’s just one stage of my handwriting. In ten years, it will look different again. I think it’s great when people do other wonderful things with my drawings or my writing. I don’t want to isolate myself.

That’s also a parallel to St. Moritz. The place is always being shaped by outside influences. That’s part of its DNA. It may seem like an exclusive winter resort, but new people keep arriving constantly.
Exactly. It’s always been like that. Artists and creatives have always helped shape the place. It’s an open system.

Photography: Diana Pfammatter

This interview first appeared in the book “Begegnungen/Encounters”, published by Kulm Hotel St. Moritz.

 The book ‘St. Moritz – A colouring book by Stefan Marx’ from Rollo Press & Kulm Hotel goes on sale on 13 April 2026 and is available in bookshops worldwide. ISBN 978-3-906213-58-3