About 

The subjects of my work and artistic concepts address the relationships between people and their urban, social, and cultural environments. The focus is on topics such as identity, transitions, boundaries, time, emptiness, and loneliness. Topics such as mental disorders, sexuality, and gender are also addressed. In recent years, philosophical ideas and autobiographical elements have increasingly flowed into the implementation of these themes. The stylistic elements used range from conceptual, minimalist, metaphorical, symbolic, and abstract to realism. The goal is to isolate, catalog, analyze, and examine these themes or objects in detail. The context in which they are located is explored in depth, as are how they differ from place to place, neighbor hood, or community. Finally, how they relate to one another and are interconnected is examined. Therefore, I pay particular attention to the obvious and subtle details in the environments we create or inhabit. My interpretations are ultimately embedded experiments through alternating observations and analyses of our visible and invisible environment and our human behavior  

 A different perception of the world 

My personal struggles with chronic mental illness, hearing problems, and other past health issues also influence my work.Under certain circumstances, the chaotic situations, sounds, voices and visions in my head can create a temporary space where things behave, act and inter act differently and do not obey the normal rules of everyday life. My everyday environment becomes a ritual space where dualism and taken-for-granted everyday things: suddenly collapse, turn upside down, overlap, resonate with each other: • presence-absence, • true-false, • matter-imagination, • perception-hallucination. 

Some Key Data

1959, Cologne, Germany

Living/Working

Currently based in The Hague, The Netherlands. During his artistic career, he has lived and worked in various countries on five continents since 1977.

Working areas

Interdisciplinary & multimedia > installation / Land Art / video / photography /performance / sound / printmaking / social sculpture

Education

1977-1981 Dun Laoghaire School of Art and Design (now IDAT), Dublin, Ireland, MFA in Sculpture and Printmaking

1975-1977 School of Printing and Design, Cologne, Germany

Teaching 

Teaching positions at educational institutions in 1979-1981 Dublin (IRL), 1992-1995 Taipei (TW) and 2008- 2010 The Hague (NL)

Activities

Regular participation in exhibitions, projects, video and film festivals .in Europe, Far East, South East Asia, Middle East, North and South Americas, Caribbian, Africa and Australia, since 1981

Concepts

Since 2023 creation and implementation of  interdisciplinary projects with a significant change in artistic visions and concepts. • Individual projects without artistic collaboration with third parties • Philosophical reflections on Zen, Buddhism and the Japanese Ma philosophy are more strongly integrated into the artistic concept. • Likewise, autobiographical elements and reflections on mental disorders and hearing problems become more prominent in the artistic visions

Interdisciplinary / Intercultural / Collaboration

In 2014, collaboration with solo dancer Tsai Hsin Ying and performance artist Kao Yu I on the project "Silent Crossing Border" at Soulangh Cultural Park in Tainan, Taiwan. This collaboration resulted in the creation of   first  video works and performance pieces. Since then intercultural and interdisciplinary collaborative projects with artists from the fields of dance, theater, music, and literature have been realized worldwide

Social sculpture / Socially Engaged Art / Workshops

In 2014, as part of the "Silent Crossing Border" project in Soulangh Cultural Park (Tainan City, Taiwan), a land art workshop was conducted for 200 elementary school children from three schools. In 2016/2017, in collaboration with theater educator Denise Dröge (Berlin, Germany), a workshop/project on social sculpture for children was developed. The workshop was also aimed at children and young people with autism, family problems, and refugee experiences. In 2017, the "Social Sculpture" project was further developed in a workshop for adults and students at the Museum of Nonconformist Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. Both workshops have since been conducted worldwide. The implementation of the land art and social sculpture workshops led to the creation of further socially engaged art projects.

Sound – voices in my head

2022 Participation in the sound project “Autistic Interiors” in The Hague, Netherlands. Led by German sound artist Anne Wellmer. Sound becomes a new discipline and medium

Before 2014

2008-2013

Strong focus on photography and experimentation with moving images. First abstract lino and dry needle prints. 

2007 - 2008

Gives up painting and traditional sculpting.First land art and installation objects. Restarts to use photography as medium 

2004-2007

The works become more abstract. Mixed media with paper collages and painting become a major component of the oeuvre.

1981-2004

Graduated from art school in 1981. Completed various internships in sculpting and blacksmithing.The areas of work include painting, sculpture and printmaking.

CV and a list of exhibitions, residencies, etc. ... as downloadable PDF files