The Human Drama Painting

I’m most concerned as both a human being and an artist by the abuse of power and the injustice in this world. I studied and grew up in Germany, so my work is very European in style. I have a a serious art eduction, an MFA in fine arts and film from the Academy of the Fine Arts in Cologne. My main artistic influences include Beckmann, Kandinsky, Gorky, Ernst, Paladino, Polke, Dubuffet, Gabrielle Munster, Eva Hesse, Helen Frankenthaler and Ai WeIWei. Writers of great influences on me are Theodor Adorno, Hannah Arendt and Bertram Russel because they write about the development of fascism and the abuse of power. Also Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Thomas Mann as well as Kafka and Rilke. There is a cinematic quality to my work which comes from my film background in my paintings. I create characters, stories and images. I’m most influenced by the directors Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Bunuel,Osu, Monte Hellmann, and Antonioni. For me a powerful piece of art should reflect its times. I think a strong piece of art is timeless and universal, because emotions are universal and all humanity can relate to this. I have a serious education in painting and a solid background in psychology, film and existential philosophy. I combine these elements with acute awareness of the political history and the contemporary situation in my Art. A humanistic philosophy in all things is reflected in my art, which reflects critically and often humorously in modern and contemporary society. I believe that art can be of influence with moral, philosophical and intellectual conversations and also bears social responsibility.