Every now and then I paint a picture. When words fail me, when there is little or nothing (more) to say anyway, I can perhaps show something. A picture can sometimes be quite helpful. I am the one who wants to see it first.
It serves me, as it always has and in the best case, only for temporary clarification. It’s not about clarification. Let others do that. It’s certainly not about transfiguration.
Temporary clarification, taking a stand, questioning it and, if necessary, giving it up again is what interests me. And that’s quite enough for me.
This is how I work my way through my conditions, necessities and possibilities in times of dwindling certainties and often strange sensitivities.
Painting was and still is a tried and tested way for me to articulate helplessness in bizarre times.
Apart from that, as a practicing recreational agnostic, I practice serenity as best I can.
Heribert C. Ottersbach, December 2023
