On the Quest for Meaning - A Life for Art

What made me become a painter and changed my worldview...

I was very young when I made my first acquaintance with art. My dad, a surrealist painter, had his studio in our flat and among his crazy and colourful paintings, I made my first baby steps. So from an early age on, I was at home in a world of the fantastic and surreal. 

But although I was raised in such a creative environment, I started drawing rather late, at about the age of 16. My early drawings represented a quest for meaning in a seemingly meaningless world. Re-occurring themes of dark landscapes populated by stick beings were channelled onto paper, a world full of questions about a deeper sense of our existence. 

"Selfpoortrait" | 50cm x 70cm | drawing on paper | 1999

However the drawing “The Homecoming” marks a turning point in my art.  At the age of 21, when I was living in Arcosanti, Arizona, I had an unbelievable realistic dream. People came in droves out of dark cityscapes. Caravans of beings seeking salvation, blazed a trail towards a huge door. I was holding that portal open to welcome those beings and to lead them to the other side of the door. 

A sense of an all encompassing bliss awaited us beyond that door. Salvation beckoned to the empty souls. Since that day when I put this idea down to paper, my art made a complete 180degree turn. I was now no longer lost, groping through the darkness searching for the meaning of our existence. Somehow I started to perceive all the positive energy and wild structures of the universe. I made my step towards the light.

"The Homecoming" | 35cm x 50cm | collage on paper | 2001

Despite my love for the arts, I have chosen to study interior architecture instead. When I look back to my works in university, I realize that all my designs were actually 3-dimensional paintings. Often it is only in hindsight you realise the true value of your choices. If I had gone to art school instead, my artwork would have been very likely pushed into a completely different direction. A great painter always has a unique technique and a strong personal vision. This is developed in life and not at art school...that's what I think. 

"Subway Station in Karlsruhe" | design concept | 2004

For the technical part, I think much can be learned through pure experimentation. Mostly technique evolves through one's process. 

I had the good fortune to gain important insights into an old masters technique through working for Prof. Ernst Fuchs in France. I learnt much about painting and the life of an artist while I was there. It was at that time that I came to the conclusion that I would rather be a painter instead of an architect. 

The thought of working in a nine to five job seemed as senseless to me as my earlier nightmares of non-existence that I painted. The faith to follow my impulses was always stronger than the urge for security and conformity. 

"The inescapable capturing of dark space through light" | 50cm x 90cm | acrylics on canvas | 2010

When we break out of habitual patterns and listen to our inner voice, we divine a hidden knowledge that empowers us to change ourselves and then ultimately the world around us. 

Always follow your heart and dreams...that is the only thing that matters!

"The seventh day" | 50cm x 70cm | acrylics & oil on canvas | 2014