Cultural Producer
Artist
Works
Painting
The central medium of my artistic work is painting. In the paintings I want to create a pictorial world that strives for figuration, but never clearly defines itself.
on canvas
on paper
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Drawing
Since the drawing serves as a media tool for perception, measurement and classification of the outside world, it functions as a structuring coordinate system.
on canvas
on paper
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Photography
The photographic intervention is a process of appropriation and transforms foreign places into familiar, pictorial objects.
Presence2023
'Presence' is a long-term photographic project whose images have been taken at various locations in Germany and Italy since 2018. From spring 2020, the effects of the pandemic shaped the practical implementation to such an extent that the photographic work shifted entirely into private space. When it comes to the topic of presence / absence, I am concerned with various questions: how can the phenomenon of absence - one's own, subjectively perceived absence or that of another person - be represented photographically? Can images of the outside world be metaphors of an inner state? And does photography possibly provide instructions on the extent to which absence can be transformed into presence? The shadow plays a central role in many of the photographs in the ‘Presence’ series. I find it interesting to observe how light and shadow shape space over the course of time and constantly reappropriate it. Shadow is created when light hits an object that it cannot penetrate: the absence of light causes the presence of shadow. If the view remains unobstructed and the shadow is absent, the light floods us. The photographic series 'Presence' (2024) comprises 35 digital photographs, which are presented as prints on acrylic glass in the format 30x20cm.
If you see something, say something2010
After successfully applying for an artist residency, I had the opportunity to spend three months in New York in the summer of 2010. My intention was to realize a photo essay dedicated to the urban aspects of the metropolis as well as my personal environment in the host studio. During the preparatory reading on the history, architecture and sociology of New York, I came across a quote by the African-American author Paule Marshall: "building the city out of words". For one summer, I explored the various neighborhoods on long walks every day, finally saving the day's results on my hard drive late at night and entering the route I had taken in the city map. During the realization of the photographic work, which had to succeed under very high temperatures and in the noisy hubbub of a maximally chaotic city, I clearly benefited from all the practical experience I had gained in the course of previous photo projects such as 'Grossraumterrarium' and 'Incubation'. Over the course of the weeks, photographs were taken that gradually condensed into a city portrait: "building the city out of images". In a surprising way, the resulting photo essay questions rather than reaffirms the often overused cliché of the 'city that never sleeps'. Since the slogan of the US anti-terror campaign (If you see something, say something) was still an integral part of the cityscape nine years after 9/11, I decided to make it the title of the photo project. The photographic series 'If You See Something Say Something' (2010) consists of 21 digital photographs on matt inkjet paper, which are laminated onto aluminum dibonds in the formats 30x40cm and 100x70cm.
Inkubation2008
After moving away from the big city, I was able to take daily trips into nature in my new home. Over a period of several months, I documented selected locations at different times of day and under different weather conditions. Initially, I was interested in more technical parameters: the relationship between close-up and long shot, the effect of exposure settings on the mood of the image, the constantly changing reflections on water surfaces, the use of flash in nature photography, and finally, the resolution of the image during the transition to abstraction. As the project progressed, however, I became particularly fascinated by the meditative calm and concentration emanating from the photographs. While there is stillness in the images, there is no standstill. Rather, it seems as if the development of the nature study follows its own systemic laws – an observation reminiscent of the scientific term incubation. The psychological use of the term describes the latent, consciously imperceptible processing of experiences and memories that takes place independently of conscious, mental processes. The photographic series 'Incubation' comprises 31 digital images on glossy inkjet paper, presented in 30x20cm format in white wooden frames with passe-partout.
Quando sei nato, non puoi più nasconderti2005
The series 'Quando sei nato, non puoi più nasconderti' is a visual mood board on which photographic motifs and image concepts were collected, read, compared, juxtaposed, archived, or even discarded over the course of a year. I reinterpreted the title, which translates as 'Once you are born, you can no longer hide,' to reflect my conceptual approach: I am here, and nothing and no one can hide from me (and my camera). The available resources included, for example, the semi-darkness of a cornfield as well as the diffuse atmosphere of post-urban (non-)spaces. In the continuous shift from city to countryside, from private to public space, and from self-reflection to worldview, a mini-cosmos of subjective snapshots emerged, inviting the viewer to view and read images. The photographic series 'Quando sei nato, non puoi più nasconderti' consists of 36 digital images on matte inkjet paper, which are mounted on the wall in an all-over hanging format of 9x13cm.
Grossraumterrarium2004
In 2004, the series 'Grossraumterrarium' came into existence over several months, which is devoted to the Frankfurt Zoological Garden: "Photographic analysis of urban recreational enclosures. Documentation of poetic traces amidst sterility. (Working note from spring 2004)". My visits were oriented towards fixed locations within the grounds: a construction site near the zoo, the park, the monkey house, the penguin bathing area under construction, the acclimatization room, and the aquariums. These places were local coordinates for me, where I examined the specific architecture, the (futile) desire to simulate nature, the distorted relationship between nature and culture, and the relationship between animals and humans. This resulted in several visual narrative threads emerging from an imaginary, peripheral space, which converge at the center of the series: in the motif of the vanitas room tiled with light blue tiles, in the center of which a sacred-looking golden hatch indicates the exit, and in the self-portraits drawn on the glass pane of the birdcage, whose branches mutate into a skeleton. The photographic series 'Grossraumterrarium' comprises 36 digital images on matte inkjet paper, mounted on hardboard in 30x40cm format.
Chatillon2003
The photographic series of the same name was created during a week-long stay in Chatillon-sur-Loire (France) in the summer of 2003. In addition to creating painterly sketches, I decided to capture the atmosphere of the place with a simple digital camera. The camera's low resolution and the resulting blurriness of the images were an obvious design element from a painterly perspective. Especially in the night shots, this created an effect reminiscent of film sequences or abstract color gradients. By photographically documenting houses, living spaces, churches, field paths, and streets, I attempted to get closer to the place and make it comprehensible to me. In addition to individual images, the series consists primarily of composite panels in which I combined two images taken from different viewpoints or at different times during my stay. These diptychs or double images create an expanded field of associations that does not prescribe a fixed narrative but remains open and flexible despite the reference to the location. The photographic series 'Chatillon' comprises 14 digital images (11 panels, 3 single images) on matte inkjet paper, which are mounted on the wall in the formats 20x30cm and 30x40cm.
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