Black Velvet Gown at Mapledurham Watermill Painting

I was born in 1965 in Berlin. At the age of 15 I started painting seriously and had my first exhibition two years later in the Berliner Philharmonie. I went to nude painting in class of Andre Bednarczik in Berlin, spent a month in Salzburg at the Sommerakademie to start lithography, graduated as a graphic-designer in 1991, became a webmaster in 2000 and made my MA at the University of the Arts in Berlin ("Institute of Art in Context). Since 1998 Im also working as an art-workshop teacher in private schools and youth facilites. I am a member of the Japan-Germany Contemporary Fine Arts Exchange Association led by Sohachi Shimomisse in Kyoto and also of the BVBK (Brandenburger Verband Bildender Knstler)I live and work as an Art teacher, freelance artist, graphic/webdesigner and musician in Kleinmachnow, Brandenburg Germany.The year of generating images on the computer was the initial spark to use them as templates for large scale paintings. What Im using now are stills, fragments and press photos from newspapers, books and movies. The conceptual idea is to take a closer look on violence and catastrophes and transfer them into a new aesthetic surrounding where the actual scenes of horror and fear are mixed with fascination. Changes in colour, partly achieved through polarized effects, gradations, complementary colours and shades of monochromes, give way to emphasize the relation between content und realities.