1.suspicion, mixed media    2.mechanical man, mixed media    3.diana, mixed media     4.darfur, mixed media    5.attraction, mixed media    6.julia, mixed media   

Discovering people, and observing their emotional landscape as it mirrors reflectively on their faces with never ending variation - marking the history and defining the human condition - that is the mystery I like to capture in a new and explorative way. My artistic goal is to replicate the experiences that we share as we discover people and render this experience in a visual way - making it an exploration, rather than a documentation.
When approached from a distance my artwork creates a first impression based on simple and bold graphic elements - symbolizing the archtypical, the mask, the iconic, the foundational basic emotional structures that we all share - the symbolic images that mankind has created to describe the human condition dating back to the early Iconic painting of Christianity or the multi-cultural Mask-carving styles from around the world - all expressing a common connection. It is the principal layer in my artwork. On closer view I work with details, the subtleties, the small nuances that make faces so expressive. The surface that is there to be observed - the grief, the joy, the horror and the humanity - the more than 200 facial expressions we have been imprinted at birth and we learn to interpret at a very early age. The surface is the mystery known to all of us - what lies underneath is a journey of discovery. By creating carefully orchestrated compositions I combine and extract multiple interpretations to create a complex impression. The compositions are stark and without adornments. I use a lot of white/negative space and reduce all expression to a minimum - forcing the reader/ viewer to complete the picture in their own mind based on their own present emotional landscape. The result is a multilayered interpretation not unlike the experience we all have as we get to realize people.
 

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