Datura_14 Painting

Starting points are organic shapes from nature, more specifically the southwest landscape. With obsessively applied dots on the borders and edges of intertwining shapes and lines, I break the previously painted forms and transform them into abstract patterns. Adding layers of lines and dots I create space in a very stylized and graphic manner. Simple yet intricate patterns of dots create depth and in combination with bold fields of vivid colors make surreal landscapes or abstractions. I find inspiration in Georgia O’Keeffe’s flower paintings, Yayoi Kusama’s iconic dot pattern, Mexican folk art colors and patterns. I named the series “Datura” after the plant Datura, used in southwest indigenous cultures as a medicinal cure and psychedelic. The usage of this plant is explained by a German anthropologist Christian Rätsch: ”A mild dosage produces medicinal and healing effects, a moderate dosage produces aphrodisiac effects, and high dosages are used for shamanic purposes". 
There is a specific energy that each painting emits. Its hypnotic patterns and vivid color combinations open up new dimensions and make the viewer feel at peace, energized, and cheerful.