The
first innocent impression is that of a beautiful baroque ceiling in a
castle or a mansion.
However, upon closer inspection all the
horrific details of war are uncovered. Each golden
ornament
depicts fire arms, tanks, and munition, culminating in the colourful
center into an
accumulation of corpses. Although the work
thematizes the ongoing war and terror around
the world, it is not
about taking sides and finding a guilty party. Soldiers, innocent
bystanders,
males, females, children, faceless representatives of
every skin colour are all thrown together
into one conglomeration
of death. What the work really questions is the role the arms
industry
is playing in the world-wide scenario. Each weapon
and/or munition which is sold contributes
toward a profit which
is so enormous that it might be characterized as “bathing in gold.”
The
only happy faces seen in the work, therefore, are those of
the armed angels parading around
and controlling the structure.
Artist Statement
My aim is to create aesthetic compositions which captivate the observer and invite her/him to deal with current critical themes. The digital, very graphic technique that I use on the computer leans in a formal sense on the glass works of church windows. Images of catastrophes, scandals, disputes and the like are intensified through an intricate iconography and composed like a mosaic. It is not my intention to construct new religious legends, as the sacred latin titles might imply, but rather to raise questions about which values we want to hold sacred in our time and prioritize in the future. Occidental and oriental designs combine into complex ornaments stressing the importance of an international dialogue. Occasional backlighting lends the works an additional radiance.
