Moritz Moll
Moritz Moll (*1991) has been studying fine art since 2015 with a focus on figurative painting in the class of Anke Doberauer at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.
Moll combines figure and space with the means of color to create idiosyncratic compositions that grip the viewer in an immediate way. He tries to open up the conventional conception of the figure as a firmly delineated outer form in order to bring out its mobile, mutable and modelable character. The source material, which ranges from personal photographs, film stills and archive images to art history, increasingly becomes the pure occasion for a painting that lives entirely from the tension-filled interpenetration of two- and three-dimensionality.
Could you tell us a little more about your background, and how did you begin creating art?
Because my father has an inventive streak, our house was a constantly changing space. In this environment, it was natural for me and my siblings to be creative and to see the world as a projection screen for our ideas. As long as I can remember I have painted and drawn intensively. I arranged the resulting works on my room walls together with material I collected. This could be practically anything from a magazine clipping to a tea towel. After school, the most important thing for me was to find a profession where I could live out my passion. I worked as a tattoo artist and studied communication design. Since graduating, I have worked as a designer and began my studies in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Here I developed a great desire for color and large formats.
What does your art aim to say to the viewers?
My art is an acknowledgement of the past, understood as a string of patterns, structures and processes that manifest themselves in us. In my paintings I process memories and visions of people close to me. As source material I use personal photographs. My works are characterized by an ambiguity regarding the readability of emotion and situation. No work stands alone, each connects with the next and thus creates a constantly changing narrative.
Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What is your daily routine when working?
At the beginning, I deal with my source material in detail. This includes above all photo albums of my family, from which I generate the motives. In the later course of my research, art historical illustrations, self-shot photos and other archive material are added to complement the original motive in terms of form and coloring. In a further step I make sketches, in which I already try to extend the colors existing in the photograph with new colors and to fix the composition in the later format. Once I am satisfied, I mix the colors and begin without any preliminary drawing to bring the motive on the canvas. My paintings live from a loose ductus and a fast way of working, which is why they usually have to be finished in one session. In a final step, the painting is placed in the context of my other works. Here it is decided whether the work has persisted, or whether it is sorted out. In some cases, I paint a picture several times before the result satisfies me.
What’s the essential element in your art?
The essential element in my art is the connection of figure and space with the means of color. My goal is to open up the conventional conception of the figure as a firmly delineated figure, in order to work out its mobile and mutable character. To do this, my compositions must grab the viewer in an immediate way, which I try to achieve through an interplay of two- and three-dimensionality.
In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society?
In my opinion, art plays an essential role in the reflection of both social and individual processes. The artist is given several roles. That of the attentive observer, the dialectical analyst and the witty commentator.
Website: www.moritzmoll.com
