I was born in June 1962 in Vienna, Austria. My interest for photography started in my early teen years when i have found the old analog Voigtländer compact camera of my father. I bought a black and white film, took my bicycle and was on tour. Later i did all this classical black and white analog darkroom work with all this stinky chemistry making small b/w prints and trying to copy and manipulate films to get them more intense and more into black and white graphic works.
My favorite lessons in school have always been sport and art, later than psychology, philosphy and spirituality (mystic) but always art and art history.
Real art always has this multidimensional, metaphoric connection to eternity, beyond visible reality – the essence of life and everything (i dont talk about modern conceptual mindfuck-shit which they call modern art). You must feel the freshness of presence in an artwork which is eternal and where you can loose and find yourself without time – the magic essence.
So in this relation i would say i am an artsoul. The camera is a tool to catch the presence of the moment and it its gone in the next moment, impossible to repeat. One catch in the flow of life.
The fascinating and special thing with art (photography, painting, music …) – is the touch and feeling of this freshness – the freshness of this one moment in time and totally timeless - this is art.
Another thrilling aspect in photography and painting is the surprise oft the coincidence, the suprise oft he moment. In photography you can plan where and when you want to shoot (location), an idea, which model you book, you have a little bit control about the technique oft he camera but thats it.
You have zero control about nature, how the elements react, the wheather, how the model will move in the flow of her movements, the light …. Everything changes all the time, things come and go and are gone in a few seconds. Thats the flow of life and thats the suprise and the freshness oft the presence.
Even pressing the shutter botton oft the camera is pure intuition and you are lucky when you have catched a great moment, when you have catched a great moment at the right time. Thats my experience.
The best things happen without any control of the mind – when the wind comes, dancing with the hair of the model, the sunset glow which makes the ocean and the beach purple for a few seconds or just soft smoothy light …. – thats pure magic.
Similar with painting – the best way to create art or better to let create art out of the presence is to start with an empty canvas or paper without any concept in the mind. Intuition tells you how you should start, which color wants to arise and how it wants to be splashed on the canvas without knowing. You dont know how colors react together, how they flow and which colors arise and the painting is different again when it is dry …. magic.
Its all about the beauty of a women and the beauty oft he female body. I am very fascinated from strong, selfconfident, natural, authentic and strong women. You can see the personality and force in a womans face and pose and how she moves. This deep beauty and force shines through the appearance oft he whole body and the eyes show her presence.
In ancient timest the artist had to to make sketches in his sketchbook before he started his artwork. I am not good in drawing so thats why i use my camera as a drawing tool and with this tool i try to catch dynamic moments of female body moves and i am very fascinated from female body shapes and body lines – the body as a sculpure, made by my camera, not by Michelangelo. The videokamera catchest he full movement, the photocamera catches frozen moments out oft he movement.
My favorite outdoor photography work ist to shoot on a beautiful location with a beautiful model. The beauty of pure nature meets the beauty of a nude female body – an incredible and perfect symbiosis.
Another combination is a beautiful model in an industrial, abandoned location. The thrilling contrast of a beautiful woman in a dilapidated lost place or in front of an old rusty machine, old wall or old factory. Very fascinating too.
Fashion (art nude) is playing with outfit and the hidden beauty of a little bit naked skin or just the joy of using outfit in an unusual way in combination with dynamic cool poses.
Art nude photography shows my ambition and fascination for beauty and body shapes, abstract painting shows my passion for the beauty and magic of colors (no shapes needed) – the color creates what it wants. Thats why my first works have been inspired by the so called „deutsches Informell“ – informal abstract art.
I also like structures so sometimes i start with strucures directly on the canvas (sand, filler, sawdust, ashes, …) or i add structures during the process into the wet paint.
It is a very intuitive process – i dont know how i start, no concept, no plan. I only prepare the canvas and the paint. When i start i dont know where the process goes to, colors flow, always changing, creating something new. Every moment is different. The process is finished when the colors are dry and even that is changing everything. I normally work fast in one flow so that the abstract painting is finished in one day.
Only when the mind has interacted so that i am not happy with the result and i have to correct parts of it after drying, i try to correct parts oft he image or create more levels so that it seems to have more depth and spaceousness but thats another process and it often looses this freshness of he one spontenous flow and present moment when i work on it again.
It is a suprise and sometimes i do too much and destroy the image. Than i have to start with white primer (Gesso) again like fresh fallen snow, virginal, waiting fort he first traces.
