My work usually starts with looking for some kind of time-related concept. After all, I am really interested in topics that pertain to helping us structure our lives, more specifically how we manage day-to-day moments and measure time. 

Therefore, I started to work on the piece “Angenommen ich werde 50” (“Suppose I reach my 50th birthday”) in 2016. Back then, I watched an incredible movie entitled “Zur Sache, Schätzchen” (“Go for It, Baby”) which is from 1968. There is a scene in the move in which the maincharacter draws 18,250 crosses on his wall, each one symbolizes a day and he removes one a day until he turns 50.

I was quite inspired by the idea of being able to organize your life almost as a coordinate system. This led to the creation of this triptych with 18,250 lines, which provides you with an idea of what 50 years of life looks like when depicted on a wall as the number of days.

Generally, I start by preparing the canvas with special acrylic layers and rabbit skin glue to achieve an elastic and durable dark foundation. The next step is to apply tape to the surface and cut every single string to the right length. Afterwards, I administer some transparent layers, thus creating clear edges. The final step is to paint in oil on the last two to four layers, which creates a subtle depth and also serves as a pleasant contrast.

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