Behind the Curtain Painting

My art comes from an urge to explore. I like the countryside. I like a good view. And once I'm face to face with a lovely scenery, I feel immediately tempted to find out what it's concealing. The dark goings-on behind the facade of nature, you might say, or the hidden machinations of the animal kingdom. To imagine and express this, I usually tap the lines linking religious icon art, renaissance painting and comic culture. I am particularly thrilled by the kind of spiritual terror you find expressed in the paintings of the old Flemish masters, and I'm trying to find out what happens when you apply that mood to the serene and harmless world of rural folk art. I am based in Hamburg, Germany, but my stuff has also been shown in such diverse places as Estonia, New York, Paris, Saint Petersburg, Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago. When not busy with art or media work, I can usually be found painting pictures with my two little sons.