About
Sven’s formal training was in the Sciences. But his passions have always been in the Arts. Music and Literature were omnipresent in his childhood. Albums and poetry, stories, black and white photography and movies made him who he is. He began his adventures into Art decades ago gradually moving to modeling, painting, common household objects to his current works seen today. All his present paintings are exclusively Oil on Canvas and Mixed Media Collage.
Experimenting with techniques, methods and the “looks” they produce have always been integral to his process. His current paintings use simple principles of cohesion and eutectics (temperature based flow properties) in making multilayered, time-deferred oil applications of graded viscosities on prepared canvas. This approach imparts a distinct 3D geometry to the work. (For the aficionados: the technique is not “impasto”!) For that reason, to preserve their structural integrity, each painting comes very simply and elegantly framed (and glassed). The frames are proudly made by local Northwest Ohio woodcrafters. Sven does have a soft corner for “words”. For most of his older works, a minimal lyric describes each painting. For his diehard Collectors this is simply Magic! It goes to the collector in a frame and becomes a strict part of the provenance. It is a fusion of Language and Image : A single shot (silent) Movie. PLEASE NOTE: This feature is only available for the older works.
The Dates on the Paintings are the rough “completion points”. Often the “work” began much prior. Example, all the Landscapes in the CURRENT PAINTINGS section have marked dates ranging 2019 – 2023. But the actual works may have begun 2015-2017 -ish. This has everything to do with the techniques and layers, drying time between applied layers and corrections and re-corrections until final framing.
(Humble) Art “Education”: 1. Autodidactic by Museum “rodent-ing”. 2. The letters of Vincent Van Gogh. 3. Concerning the Spiritual in Art: V. Kandinsky. 4. Vers une architecture (Towards an Architecture) Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret)
Sven’s One and Only “Guide”: “From Darkness lead me to Light. From Truthlessness to Truth. And from Death unto Deathlessness!” The person / artist “Sven” is miniscule compared to this path.
In the past few years Sven’s health has become an issue. Along with his life changes, his capacities have diminished. Commissions are selective and one-on-one interactions limited (by appointments only). But Collectors are always dear and never far from Sven! The artist firmly believes that nothing beats one-on-one in person Art Acquisition!
Making of Sven Magic
