My different Projects Timeline
I. A Variety of Habitats: Mountains and Trees (1999-2000)
Montagens II, huile sur toile, 80/120 cm, MM
The beginnings of my painting were mainly influenced by the Impressionists1. Gradually, thanks to my studies and observations, I began to experiment with other techniques and methods of expression.
The first tree of the collection ("Embla I") is hardly visible in the background of the painting, which consists only of a dead tree trunk. Subsequent works are more figurative and naturalistic and culminate with the "Montagens II" work.
I used the following works as sources for my inspiration: Vincent van Gogh, The Poet's Garden, Arles, 1888, Vincent van Gogh, Allée des Alyschamos, 1888, Cuno Amiet, Frühsonne, 1924, James Horton, Rapsfeld, Rolf Vollé, Nesthorn, Erwin Schiele, Tessiner Landschaft.
II. The Fullness of Void: The Colour's Development (2001-2004)
Mountains, Trees, Nature: The more I dedicate myself to studying the Masters, the bigger the void between my reality and theirs becomes.
Movement and acceleration define our being. The time of the figuratively stiff pieces has passed. I begin more and more to separate the colours from formal boundaries and numbness. With the radical "Emptying of the Paintings", I turn against any clear form of linear demarcation within the painting. The Fullness of Void collection does not simply represent movement, it is at the same time Movement and Change.
Hyle IV, huile sur toile, 80/120 cm, MMIII
The emptied painting fills itself with endlessness, immediacy and dynamism. Consciousness cannot be held. The same-shaped surface of the painting is kept in movement by rhythmic, relief-like structures. The paintings do not capture an outside event; they become an occurrence in their own right. Their fullness lies no longer in the figurative, but in the tension of their whole being.
III. Return of the Shapes: Openings and Windows (1999-2004)
Triptychon Pailou III, huile sur toile, 40/60 cm, MMIII
The traditional forms of painting have become a creative prison, a cell whose lines, contours, shapes, forms and compositions are barriers to my artistic expression. The "Emptying of the Paintings" has freed me. New windows are opening now. I can leave my imaginary prison and see openings again, as well as light and a new " Alphabet of Colours". The Return of the Shapes is characterised by the openings and windows that are a recurring theme of my work.
IV. The Tension between Colours and Shapes: Constructs (2004-2005)
Every square is a mental construct. I call mental constructs the ideas that our society has about love, work, law, science, culture, and so on. Diagonal lines usually connect the individual squares to one another. These lines represent the interactions between the mental constructs and the individual, culture and spirit of the times. By layering the colours, they are projected into space. The three-dimensionality shows the change of the mental constructs, the verification and falsification of ideas rules, and therefore the relativity of our own existence.
The main theme of the "Prémises" exposition is called "Constructs". The collection of the same name consists of more than 20 pictures showing overlapping squares and cubic designs that are connected to one another with diagonal lines. The pictures give the impression of movement and rhythm. The base layer, made of oil paint, sand, silk paper or various parchments, forms a crusty base. The background is usually plain and is sometimes even transparent. On it are squares of different muted colours, between which are visible lines and shallows that have been etched into the base layer. The squares are embedded into each other or connected to one another and create a permanent tension between each other. Depending on their position, their colour is dense or transparent, light or dark. As a result, the individual constructs give each shape a tense balance, in which colours and shape dialectically attract, repel and condition each other.
V. Flow of Life: Kollektion Flots (2006-2016)
Flots V, huile sur toile, 160/120 cm, MMVI
Enveloped in the assortment «Flots Fliessen» are creations containing variously arranged, layered rectangles and cubic themes that are concatenated by diagonals. The constructs in the Collection «Constructio» are in a state of unravelling, are laving, evolving into a wave, being washed away.
The motion of the wave creates a contrast to the static forms of the rectangles and by this adds another dimension to the tenseness of the paintings. The vitality of the motion is framed by warm colours and thus securing and supporting the wave. «Flot» or Flow indicates – as per the artist – the fulfilling individual experience of uninhibited involvement in the process of an activity. The artist invites to prescind from individual constructs, to discover what is liaising: the Panta Rei of life, of love. «Flot» shows the delineation of realm of human experience and of the possibilities of existence.