I don´t think anyone saw me much in the last 2 weeks for I was printing and cutting the hell out of lino-blocks. Kamil would draw the nights away and Shiroh finishing up his paintings. In between we would meet Andrew at the gallery to discuss concepts, prices for the artwork and such. The three of us have very different styles and deal with different realities. You can see the results in real-life (OMG!) until the 19th of October at Gallery52 (Weichselstrasse 52. Wed to Sat 3 -7 pm). I´d be thrilled if you find time to check it out. The opening yesterday was really nice. Friends dropped by for chat and drinks and eventually blocked the sidewalk. Crazy bicyclists would race thru the gathering every now and then so we had to jump around a bit. An elderly man would pass by, talking about gentrification in Neukölln, then point at us to give an example. Around 22:30 pm a man arrived, got out his clarinet and played a few tunes for every hanging picture, then vanished. Yukiko Shikano did a little catering. She makes really delicious japanese dishes, savoury or sweet. I can only recommend her. I will post pics of all the artworks in another entry, after the exhibition. But here a few from yesterday (some by Shiro):
I wanted to write a little something about my linocuts, but when it comes to my intentions, the deeper meaning, I feel speechless. It’s all in my head but as soon as I open the text editor…..nothing pours out. All I do is pinch my eyes together, bite my lip and wrinkle my brow. The cursor keeps blinking, everlasting. If it seems to be such a pain in the arse for me, why am I not asking for help? I did. I sent some pics of the prints to my friend Lena (a writer), then we chatted a bit on the phone about it and I tried to let her look into my head a bit. An hour later she sent me back her text and I loved it.
[quote]
Living in the city, wrapped in technology, the longing for nature remains. Robots clinging in a narrow universe while a deer staring trough urban structures. Surrounded by a fast, stuffed and ticking clockwork one faces a dilemma while concurrently waiting for the next breakthrough technology and pure, untouched reality (nature). This cycles focuses on animals with mechanical appearance, confused looking, Robot-like individuals. Discarded, forgotten and right in the middle of ones everyday confusion.
I chose linocut as a technique for it forces me to think in bold lines, simple shapes and layers that allow both a nostalgic and technical touch. Linocut takes some time to develop – enough time to bring me down, leave turmoil and concentrate on technique.
As an artist I work in phases – scribbles, clay, drawings, graphics, photography (yes I’m retro now – a dead hard drive got me back to real film), sketches – I can’t tell if it’s Captain Kirk or the toaster that commands my cycles. TV-series, movies, music and audio books are inspiration and important setting for my work. This way I not only relax but pour out creativity. Somehow animals like deer, birds and butterflies seem to be my works core. I like their shapes and all of the possibilities they offer – incarnating patterns and movement, forming and deforming.
