ARTIST STATEMENT

The Matrix of Perception – Painting between Illusion and Reality

My paintings explore the tension between illusion and reality. Through transparencies and color overlays, I reveal the fleeting nature of appearances and make visible what otherwise remains hidden. I distinguish between “reality” as a construct of our consciousness and reality as a non-dual fact that is independent of appearances.

Translucent figures – between baroque and manga – oscillate between presence and dissolution. The works are reminiscent of user interfaces or game surfaces – they are visually unstable, similar to changing interfaces. I paint the “matrix” at the moment of its dissolution.

I deconstruct historical self-representations by reading Baroque ideals of representation as fragile echoes of today’s digital stagings. The perfect surface has always been fragile: Baroque crises are reflected today in digital self-optimization. Instagram filters replace powdered wigs, feed aesthetics take the place of magnificent paintings. People appear as media-edited shells – visually tangible, but insubstantial.

My work deliberately uses cuteness: pastel-colored baroque and kawaii figures refer to social stereotypes, question the boundary between the human and the posthuman through their exaggerated artificiality, and, precisely in their pure superficiality, offer the potential to recognize appearances for what they are—fleeting constructions.

In times of artificial intelligence and algorithmic identities, my art invites us to question seemingly stable categories, reflect on our own patterns of perception, and become aware of the non-dual reality in which all appearances arise.