MONTAGEEFFEKTE IN DER MALEREI DER SPÄTMODERNE
In the theoretical side to my work, I focused on the use of montage as a pictorial sketch in painting. The terms painting and montage appear to contradict one another in that painting is associated with the idea of being organic, whereas montage seems to have its origin in technology. In my thesis I demonstrate that this contradiction is deceptive. The implementation of photographic aids in painting began with the invention of the camera obscura. The use of these aids was followed almost automatically by the composition of an image from several photo fragments.
When images assembled in this way are recreated in painting, they retain features of the underlying montage that are known as montage effects. I have examined this characteristic in my work.
COLLAGENMALEREI
The practical side to my Diplom project consists of a series of large-format paintings on canvas and cotton. The paintings are portraits and my painting technique results in a blurry quality. I combine visual references into a montage that functions as a form of initial sketch. I then transfer this outcome into painting. Using a brisk painting method involving oil, I blend the still wet colours into one another. In this way, the fragments of the montages seem to merge into one another on the canvas. The meeting of the edges of the faces with those of the canvas becomes indistinct. I do not wish to depict any particular person with my works. Following a deliberate approach, my portraits no longer serve to make one aware of the original pictorial references. Instead, I wish to depict several features of an individual in one painting.
