In the series of paintings «Paradise Lost,» I examine the connection between satellite views and the control over nature. I use nature sketches and satellite images as templates for the paintings. They show monocultures from the air, enormous fields where only olive trees, fir trees, or oil palms grow. From a distance, the images look like a pattern. Up close, each tree is painted uniquely. The last painting in the series is called «Spring» and speculates about a different relationship between nature and technology. There, a symbiosis between plants and technological devices emerges.
Paradise lost, exhibition view, Marburger Kunstverein, 2021. Photo: Christian Stein
Paradise lost, exhibition view, Marburger Kunstverein, 2021. Photo: Christian Stein
Paradise lost, 2020, installation view, Galerie Parterre. Photo: Duo Chen
Paradise lost, 2020, installation view, Galerie Parterre. Photo: Duo Chen
Paradise lost, 2020, installation view, Galerie Parterre. Photo: Eric Tschernow
Paradise lost, 2020, installation view, Galerie Parterre. Photo: Eric Tschernow
Summer, 2020,oil and pigments on reverse of glass, 250 x 125 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
Autumn, 2020, oil and pigments on reverse of glass, 250 x 125 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
Winter, 2020, oil and pigments on reverse of glass, 250 x 125 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
Spring, 2020, oil and pigments on reverse of glass, 250 x 125 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
You live in interesting times. Paradise Lost. 2020, oil and pigments on reverse of glass, 250 x 125 cm (each), exhibition view Photo: Eric Tschernow
In this triptych, I examine how the digital world is changing our perception of public space. I also ask how we can regain access to this space. I transformed several analog sketches of Nuevos Ministerios, a government building complex in Madrid, into a digital 3D model. Based on this model, I painted the triptych behind acrylic glass plates with the enlarged proportions of a mobile phone display. Each view moves away from ground level on each panel, so that an aerial perspective emerges in the end. I incorporate different perspectives through mobile phones or rearview mirrors. The depicted people and machines intervene in the image; they retouch it and change it. Through retouching, the digital image loses objectivity: the human hand intervenes in the machine. The image invites the viewer to actively reinterpret public space.
Triptych of the retouch, 2019, oil and pigments on reverse of acrylic glass, 250 x 125 cm (each one) © Franziska Libuda
Triptych of the retouch, detail
Paradise Lost. 2020, oil and pigments on reverse of glass, 250 x 125 cm (each), exhibition view © Eric Tschernow
The series of paintings «Heilstätte Grabowsee» questions a new subjectivity in figuration. The building complex is barely distinguishable from its background. The boundary between inside and outside blurs, and vegetation grows into the interior spaces. Similarly, my personal perception and what is seen flow into each other. I first made sketches on site with watercolors and created small paintings behind glass. These served as templates for the series of reverse glass paintings that were later created in the studio. I install the paintings at a distance from the wall. The shadow they cast creates a new spatiality.
2021
Oil and pigments on reverse of glass
125 x 62,5 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
2021
Oil and pigments on reverse of glass
125 x 62,5 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
2021
Oil and pigments on reverse of glass
125 x 62,5 cm
Photo: Eric Tschernow
2021
Oil and pigments on reverse of glass
125 x 62,5 cm
Foto: Eric Tschernow
2021
Oil and pigments on reverse of glass
125 x 62,5 cm
Foto: Eric Tschernow
Detail. Foto: Daniel Holz
Detail. Foto: Daniel Holz