The 28th in an interview series in which I pose the same six questions to artists of all hues. Willi Bambach is an artist living in Berlin, Germany. He works in a mixture of media, always finding surprising combinations of textures and images in his juxtaposition of different materials. If you live in the New York area, you can currently see his work in Long Island City at this venue.
WB: My creativity circles around paintings, sculptures, and installations. The main substance I work with most is probably silicon. Why? Maybe because I feel that it's a perfect mirror of our zeitgeist.
PH: What piece are you currently working on?
,+2011.JPG) |
"Untitled (Crash 201)", 2011, silicon, paper, acrylic color and varnish-color, plastic sheets on Canvas, 98" x 61"
|
PH: What medium do you chiefly use, and why?
WB: My creativity circles around paintings, sculptures, and installations. The main substance I work with most is probably silicon. Why? Maybe because I feel that it's a perfect mirror of our zeitgeist.
PH: What piece are you currently working on?
WB: Usually I work on several pieces simultaneously. One that I'm working on now is a large painting in my plast-art style, like the one you might already know: "Untitled (Crash 201)." The title will be "Untitled (Decoration 202)". Two more in this style are in the making: "Hulks Orgasm" and "Big fish bloody red blue". Additionally I just finished a sandwork-painting called "Verdauungs (digestive...)", a 6 piece-sculpture set "Prophezeiung (The Prophecy)," and a 21 piece painting-set which discusses colors as such, titled "Colors must burn."
,+2013.JPG) |
"Schwangere (The Pregnant)", 2013, foamglas-kernel wrapped/covered with
fiber-glass and 2 component-resin, colors, 28" x 25" x 16" |
PH: What creative surprises are happening in the current work?
WB: I love the concept of the unexpected surprise, and so in "Untitled (Decoration 202)" you will see a motive behind a curtain which consists of . . . actually the work is a discussion about the connection between violence and sex. In "The Prophecy" you might realize that the wood-pieces are made out of books and the inserted and melted pieces are electronic-boards from computers - only the letters will survive. It's a discussion about the idea that everything man creates isn't made for eternity.
PH: What other artistic medium (or non-artistic activity) feeds your creative process?
WB: It's as simple as this: my creativity fires best when I work on my art.
PH: What's the first ever piece of art you remember making?
 |
"Elefant", 2013, Rhubarb leaves, Metal Sponges, Leg of Display Mannequin, 2-Component-Resin, Varnish, Acrylic Colors on Wooden Board (Trunk/Leg is removable), 38" x 50.5" x 28"
|
WB: When I was about 10 I did drawings of fashion, but stopped doing this after some time when I realised "this isn't for me. Its too easy to do this." At the age of 16 I did a small abstract god-sculpture, which is still with me as the "good spirit" of my household.
PH: Finally, and you can answer this in any way you want: why are you an artist?
WB: You might remember my tagline from G+: "Art to me is like salty sea-water for the thirsty . . . and I have drunken."
Vielen dank, Willi. And if you liked this interview, and you'd like to keep up to date with the series, why not Subscribe, or sign-up via Google Connect, using one of the options over on the right? Thanks, and keep creating.