Composite
 

Photographically collected imagery serve as an archive from which individual objects are extracted and then composed an imaginary scene that takes place on an undefined paper-white background.  The „real“ is part of this photographic work only as a multitude of individual components. The resulting image is fiction."

Archival Pigment Prints, Alu Dibond/Acrylic Glas,  (80cm x 200cm / 31"x79"), 2004/2008

City of sails (artist in residence project, 2004/5)

"As a first time visitor to Auckland I was intrigued by the spectacle that takes places every weekend in the city’ bay. Hundreds of sailboats from different marinas set sail for the outer islands of the Haruki Gulf to engage in more or less peaceful battles. Sailing is more than just a leisure activity for New Zealanders. Surveys on national identity have shown that 95 percent of Ne Zealanders would gain greater satisfaction from world-class performance by kiwi sports teams than from parallel achievements by artists or scientist.  Ne Zealander’s identification with the silver fern illustrates the extent to which sport and its symbols are embedded in New Zealnd’s’ culture. Sailing and in particular „The America’s Cup“ which is considered to be the Holy Grail of sailboat racing, is such a modern source of national identity and pride. Over the period of my residency I took pictures of various types of boats in different modes of „action“. The collected imagery served as an archive from which I digitally extracted individual objects and then composed an imaginary scene that takes place on an undefined paper-white background. The compositional concept attempts to combine modern appearances of boats with a kind of dramatic narrative extracted from historic depictions of maritime events. Dutch and British marine paintings and drawings from the 17th century served in this process as reference. In a certain sense with this picture I turn myself into the position of an eyewitness of an event who takes the liberty to „adjust“ the scene in a suitable manner to create an image that visualizes an „idea of“ rather than the actually seen. The „real“ is part of this photographic work only as a multitude of individual components. The resulting image is fiction."

artconneXions catalogue, ifa, Berlin, Auckland, 2004/5