About
Like a sound enters the head through the ears and directly evokes emotion and fires the imagination so should a painting at first sight strike the eyes of the observer. It should touch the soul without detour or delay. It must be a primary visual experience. Later on in the process of reflecting on the work all kinds of interpretations, art historical explanations, hidden or obvious meanings by the artist, formal aspects of painting can/may come up for discussion.
For me painting and drawing are the most direct ways to give expression to my thoughts and feelings in relation to a complex reality. A new work starts with a quite clear idea derived from my environment. That can be a photo in a magazine, an image on television, a work of art from the past , a view from my window or an experience from a sailing trip. It means you can identify recognizable objects in my work. During the making I manipulate the objectifiable reality, give accents, reduce, make unexpected choices, revise and create a new order on the canvas or paper. It is a rather intuitive and physical process. I have to come in the”flow” to find the freedom to make the fullest use of the material, without inhibitions and without compromises. In the end the original image or theme can have completely changed. Only the idea remains. As a matter of fact I start with every new work an odyssey not knowing where it brings me. To a terra incognita only having a notion of the direction I have to go. Once arrived there is a moment of suprise and recognition. In the end the painting should look as if it just had to be this way. It ought to radiate simplicity and lucidity even though it is the result of toil and trouble. That is where I am striving for.
It is obvious my work is inspired by the neo-Expressionists, the Neue Wilde, from the seventies and eighties of the previous century. One of the great challenges for me is to investigate how I relate to the history of art and how I position myself in the present developments, an extremely exciting enterprise.