residencies
Paliano, Italy
Lisbon, Portugal
Bilbao, Spain
São Paulo, Brazil
about my work
In January 2020 I moved into a spacious studio in Bregenz.
After months of arriving and finding my way, after countless failed paintings, I began, in step with an unprecedented spring, to paint good pictures. My figures began to move more freely, former accuracies disappeared, leaving behind a painting that only served itself. I decided to stop titling my works, instead I numbered them consecutively. My paintings should no longer start with an idea, I trusted my arm and the paint, I let them.
Looking is the decisive factor in painting, it takes up most of the time. Decisions have to be made: Is more color needed, does a whole part interfere and should be wiped away? I rotate the painting, is it maybe better this way? Back to the canvas, change everything accordingly and look again. Step back! Three meters, five meters. Everything until I'm satisfied. If it fails, I will just put it aside and paint over it in a few months.
I found a rhythm. Without effort, without forcing myself, I went to the studio six days a week. If I wasn't there, I thought about my paintings I missed them, I coninued painting them in my head. They became darker, then completely light, the formats became larger. I still opposed every idea, I wanted to let the pictures have their freedom. But again and again I came across motifs that I could not escape. They were suddenly there, and a picture alone could no longer do them justice.
Series came into being: First it was reflections that interested me, dogs populated my pictures, I painted reflections on wet streets, I painted shadows. I let all the layers have their own life, each figure should move in its own individual way, and yet all should be connected. I questioned what reality is, I created parallel worlds, one painting showed different points in time.
The dogs were followed by cars. I wanted to free myself from everything learned in order to gain an unbiased view of my motifs. Throughout my artistic life I painted figures. In years of drawing nudes, I learned to understand and control them so well that I felt I was taking away freedom from my painting, exerting too much control over my work.
I grew up without a car, I don't have a driver's license, and I've never been engaged in cars. My view of cars is entirely naïve. Cars seemed to the perfect subject to break out of my routine.
My streets became lonelier, and the images became more and more monochromatic. I realized that it was the emptiness that fascinated me more and more. I left the cars, the dogs, and the people behind.
This is where I stand today.