The drab, dirty electricity boxes along Germany's streets bothered Hess for some time, so she decided to teach herself the art of graffiti to brighten up her neighbourhood with characters from children's books and designs by British street artist Banksy. Photos: Uwe Anspach/dpa
The electricity boxes dotted along the streets of Germany are a functional grey at best, while more often they are scribbled on, mossy or dirty. That bothers Inge Hess.
"Whenever I see a box like that, I think I should paint it," says Hess, 80, a great-grandmother and now a graffiti artist.
The transformers located on pavements are cabinets for electrical equipment, controlling the electrical supply to a number of houses in a neighbourhood.
They could look brighter, in Hess' view, and she has already spruced up 20 in her area.
She is a rarity in the graffiti scene, made up mostly of younger men, and enjoys a degree of celebrity status in her town near Heidelberg.
She has already been on television and featured in newspapers – making her the second most famous person from Leimen, after fallen tennis star Boris Becker.
Her story began with the power box stationed right opposite her home that looked grubby and generally forgotten.
It got on her nerves so much that she seized her sponge and a cleaning spray – then reached for a spray can. Other paints don't work as well on the surface of the box, Hess says.
The electricity boxes dotted along the streets of Germany are a functional grey at best, but now, several are brightly coloured, courtesy of Hess.
First she applies a light background colour to replace the drab institutional shade. Then she sprays on characters by Janosch – a popular German writer and illustrator of children's books – or designs by British street artist Banksy, using stencils she created.
Banksy is known for creating works that highlight social injustice, and Hess appreciates that though she wants to make one thing clear: "I'm not a political person." Her focus is on her community and society, she says.
Her work does include political statements though, such as her take on Banksy's "Girl with Balloon", which shows a girl gazing at a balloon painted in blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Hess says Moscow's war on Ukraine is weighing on her.
Even as a youngster, she loved painting, starting out with pictures in a poetry album at school. After raising three children, Hess then took up watercolours.
The idea of doing art in public spaces came to her when she and her husband had to stop their restaurant service for fresh salads when the pandemic broke out.
"Yay, I'm free," she recalls saying at the time.
Hess, self taught, learned her technique online, then picked up tips from other graffiti artists. She gained further inspiration from street art she saw in New York on a trip.
Her works radiate optimism and joie de vivre, as does Hess herself.
One box shows the popular Janosch frog, a character known and loved from children's books, lolling in a meadow and wishing everyone a "Happy Sunday".
She has painted other boxes emblazoned with the words "Write again" or "Hello sunshine".
Everyone living locally appreciates Hess' contribution to shining up the community – including the town council. Officials are tired of seeing the kind of graffiti that is insulting, obscene or illegal.
Mayor Hans Reinwald calls such scrawls "an eyesore in the municipal image". Anything that covers them up or better still, prevents that kind of thing in the first place is welcome, he says.
Many people see graffiti artists as criminals but Hess takes a different view. She understands the images that pop up overnight on walls, even if to others they seem unconventional or brutal.
"Young people need an outlet," she says.
She did make sure that her art isn't breaking the law, seeking permission from the electricity company and also initiating conversations with the people who are living near an electricity box she has her eye on.
Locals are happy when they hear of her plans, she says, after preparing them first with an outline of her plans. The boxes are so drab and inconspicuous that many never even noticed it, they tell her.
Hess is less of a fan of tags, the signatures of graffiti artists that she thinks should be cleaned up.
Her signature is a small red heart placed at the bottom of her work. – dpa
