YOU STUDIED UNDER INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS LIKE NEO RAUCH AND HERIBERT C. OTTERSBACH AT THE HOCHSCHULE FÜR GRAFIK UND BUCHKUNST LEIPZIG. HOW DID THAT EXPERIENCE SHAPE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT PAINTING AND IMAGE-MAKING TODAY?

Although the academy had a very traditional approach to painting, I was allowed to experiment a lot - with Rauch being the more technically skilled painter-painter while Ottersbach was more open for modern media and concepts. As I am very deep into the dialogue between painting history and more “recent” developments like 3D graphics, this combination was highly appreciated.

YOUR PRACTICE MOVES FLUIDLY BETWEEN TRADITIONAL PAINTING AND COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY. HOW DO THESE TWO WORLDS INFLUENCE EACH OTHER IN YOUR WORK?

From the beginning I was always in doubt how serious figurative painting could/should be done - 50 years after it nearly came to a total halt in the Western hemisphere and seemed obsolete with all these new developments I was fascinated with. On the other hand, while I was studying, the digital image in any form was already the new norm and I was missing the warmth of manual craftsmanship. These formal struggles still captivate me to this day.

MUCH OF YOUR ART EXPLORES LIMINAL SPACES, IMAGES THAT FEEL SUSPENDED BETWEEN REALITY AND IMAGINATION. HOW DID THAT SENSIBILITY INFORM THE RECYCLED PLASTIC PANEL YOU CREATED FOR 4BYSIX?

The suspension between reality and imagination, like you call it, was literally what I aimed for in this motif. It’s a classic take on the ambiguous image, a reversible figure.

THE RECYCLED PANEL IS AN UNUSUAL SURFACE, ESPECIALLY FOR AN ARTIST WHO WORKS WITH BOTH CANVAS AND DIGITAL SPACE. WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO TRANSLATE YOUR VISUAL LANGUAGE ONTO THIS MATERIAL?

A work needs some legitimation for why this or that medium was chosen. For me, painting wasn’t the right answer. Nearly immediately I knew: this needs to be cut. Cut like in linocut. In fact, this panel could be used as is for printing. Similar to the motif I talked about above, this technique needs to be well thought out beforehand, so this was a win-win situation.

YOUR IMAGERY OFTEN FEELS LIKE IT BELONGS TO A PARALLEL WORLD SHAPED BY BOTH EUROPEAN CULTURAL MEMORY AND DIGITAL AESTHETICS. WHAT KIND OF WORLD DOES THIS 4BYSIX PIECE INVITE THE VIEWER INTO?

OK, it’s an image of a cat, isn’t it? It’s kind of philosophical: thesis–antithesis–synthesis. I always loved this dialectical concept - like Rubin’s vase. It isn’t harmonious like Yin–Yang, rather Hegelian - contradictions colliding, things people unfortunately are seldom willing to accept.

4BYSIX IS ABOUT USING ART AS A TOOL TO SUPPORT COMMUNITIES. HOW DOES THIS PROJECT CONNECT WITH YOUR OWN VIEW OF WHAT ART CAN ACHIEVE BEYOND THE STUDIO OR GALLERY?

That might be a generic one: art has been kind of my survival language. It carried me through rough stretches, sometimes by making me laugh, sometimes by letting me fall apart. I think of it less as decoration and more as a form of communication across time and space - a way of not being alone. If it gave me that much, then giving something back feels inevitable. Maybe there are others who missed out on those connections, and my work can fill some gaps.

MANY OF YOUR WORKS BORROW FROM THE AESTHETICS OF EARLY COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND GAMING CULTURE. WHAT DRAWS YOU TO THAT VISUAL LANGUAGE, AND HOW DO YOU SEE IT EVOLVING IN YOUR FUTURE PRACTICE?

The most important observation for my work was the continuation of a (short-lived) part of painting history in early 3D video game graphics nobody talks about. Artists of movements like “New Objectivity” translated organic elements like, for example, human limbs to the few basic geometric shapes available: pyramid, cube, sphere, cylinder, and so on.

Obviously Cubism is re-imagined in the glitchy low-poly style of the PlayStation 1. But rarely someone recognises how Oskar Schlemmer translates to Andrew Spencer’s unique style of Ecstatica - Gouraud-shaded ellipsoids! You see: artistic intention then technical necessity in the early ’90s. With stunningly similar results.

As for the future, I don’t know. I am still extremely fascinated by these questions. In recent months I had that idea to instead of painting an illusion of collage on canvas to actually paste real (painted-on) paper/cardboard onto the canvas.

The concept behind it was how bored but also disturbed (because of its implications) I was about the perfection of recent “fakes.” So as a statement my plan is to not hide that this is imperfection, that I had hardships and made corrections in the process. In a way, make it more accessible for the viewer. I guess it’s more authentic/honest. But let’s see.

COLLABORATION OFTEN CHALLENGES ARTISTS TO APPROACH THEIR WORK DIFFERENTLY. WHAT DID YOU DISCOVER ABOUT YOUR PROCESS OR PERSPECTIVE THROUGH WORKING WITH 4BYSIX?

Yes sure, for a veeery long time I didn’t work in wood/linocut. It’s a very different work mode compared to lithography, let alone painting. It’s about contrasting simplified shapes, you can’t rely on effects like shading/textures or colors. In addition, everything needs to be figured out in detail, corrections are possible but very cumbersome.

I am pretty sure that I would have not tapped into that field again in the coming years. But now I feel inspired to do some linocut prints in autumn.

YOUR WORK PLAYS AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE VIRTUAL AND THE REAL. DO YOU SEE RECYCLED AND UPCYCLED MATERIALS, LIKE THE PLASTIC PANEL, AS ANOTHER WAY OF EXPLORING THAT BOUNDARY?

Definitely not in connection with painting, but to use these plastic panels for prints is very imaginable. They are unnecessarily thick of course but are structurally very similar to linoleum/vinyl. I mean, it’s rather symbolic in nature, but if I could have all my work material out of up-/re-/down-cycled stuff: happy welcome!