These pronounced inner tensions with emotionally opposed moods are my driving force to face or to stand in front of a usually large canvas and instrumentalize the painting process as an outlet valve. In doing so, I experience a kind of “flow” that allows painting to take place unconsciously. This “flow” gives me an immense security and self-evidence, so that I rarely have to leave the picture in these moments to see the effect of my strokes on the whole. Everything flows trance-like onto the canvas.
During the painting process, most of the time I don’t think about what I’m doing at that moment. I use the artistic or pictorial thinking: thinking in pictures. That’s why I can’t answer questions like “what did you think when you created the painting ?” in the classical sense.
Beyond drawing and painting by hand, the expression that reflects my emotions during this painting process or the current situation in life usually emerges in my paintings. This expression can be seen in the type and intensity of the strokes as well as the composition of the painting and colour. When the picture becomes concrete, a “conscious” reassessment of the painting then follows.
According to the variety of my emotions and moods, very different paintings are created, which differ not only in their motifs, colour and picture compositions, but also in the painting style or in the different painting directions. Coupled with the need for development, which is driven forward again and again by the free living out of the painting process, “new” can also be created in this way. When my paintings are no longer different, I lose the authenticity of my painting.
The constant confrontation with myself and my environment inevitably leads to change. It is a life in search of new “flows” that must be used spontaneously. This means that my art is over when the “flows” are gone. Because then all that remains for me is the application of my acquired technique and the drawing from the portfolio of my experience in painting. In this case I run the risk of “variant painting”, which is equally important with the situation that H.D. Sauerbier quotes as follows: “An artist has found a style when he can think of nothing more”.
All in all, living them is a prerequisite for the success of my paintings.
Christian Moll (2012)
