“Head in the Clouds (1-10)” acrylic and ink on PVC, 59.4 x 84.1 cm, December 2022
https://bjornbauerart.com/
I was so busy with illustration projects last year that I almost didn‘t paint at all. Fortunately, I got a series of ten pieces in at the finish line. The theme started by pondering this ever expanding cloud that we are all supposed to upload our lives to. But the work ended up having just as much to do with a progression of mental states and the seemingly constant need to find clarity. I think these paintings helped me find some peace and beauty by just resting in the turbulence.
This piece “Deep Connection” is a visual representation of the idea that finding both love and friendship in one person is possible. The artwork features two distinct shapes, each portraying one of the two roles that a person can fulfill in our lives. They are intertwined, symbolizing the deep connection that can exist when these two come together. It can be a rare and precious thing to have someone who is both a true friend and a passionate lover.
I tend to think of these as ‘inverted’ pictures: Forms that I could have painted black but instead worked in a reductive way (from an off-white starting point to a largely black finish) until the forms emerge and the painting largely completes itself. At a certain point the main motifs emerge and I can then add white or remove black until the image works. I’m finding it quite a satisfying way to paint.
DAILY - Nines Number 77
Sampling_composition_105_colour_28, Clemens Niewoehner
Sampling compositions are colouring collages of recurring geometric elements