Germany, 1961
Born 1961 in Germany, I grew up in the rural Ahr Valley. After Highschool I lived in Amsterdam for 11 years, where I studied painting at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. In 1998 I moved to tropical Suriname for 16 years, since 2014 I live in Berlin.I always had an intensive bond with color. The impressions and experiences from the Tropics, a totally different way of life, influence my work and changed my perception of what I can take for granted and my notion of „reality“. My work deals with the basic conditions of life and humanity, operating in the tension-field between nature and culture. What in life is rather insignificant and what remains as the indispensable, essential and also the unavoidable core of life? I have different kinds of work with different qualities. I like the flowing properties of watercolors, where things sometimes develope unforseen and on their own, and the pasty, earthy richness of acrylic paint. But sometimes my alchemical tendencies take over and I experiment with all sorts of materials. In some works I have a clear concept, that I follow. In others, the concept is more vague and I partly just look what happens. I mostly work in series.The best moments are those, when during painting something happens, that I never planned or thought of, but which suddenly opens up a path and gives an extra dimension, which perfectly adds to what I meant…like a reply in a dialogue.