Leipzig based visual artist, Raffael Bader, graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts, Leipzig, Germany in 2019. He grew up in the south of Germany, lived in the north for a while until it brought him to the east. The change of location, which is also reflected in his longer stays abroad (Australia, Asia and Latin America, among others), has a decisive influence on his work. Bader’s paintings deal with his view of a world full of tensions, while these tensions hold our world together. In 2020 he began exhibiting internationally, including in Switzerland and the USA. In 2020 he received the „Denkzeit“ grant from the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and in 2021 he received the work scholarship from the Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn.
Artist Statement
In my paintings, which are largely characterized by landscape, I considers my view of a world full of tensions while these hold the world together. I pursues a nature that consists of all natural things and elements that surround us, as well as us humans as part of this nature. I understand nature as a chaotic ground that strives for harmony. This seems to me to be a basic principle of life. I use the nature that surrounds us to create works in which I can face my inner conflicts. This includes interpersonal relationships and the search for understanding my role in this world. As the principle of the harmonic-chaotic thesis suggests, everything is in process.
Likewise, I understand my painting as an open process, so I do not seek perfection, which would seem like the end of potential. Thus, I have realized that the potential of imperfection leads me to an abstract way of working, where I can focus on the essential and create works that invite the viewer to resonate with their own experience and inner state.
In the process of creating an image, I looks for what presents itself to me as core elements of nature. I find this in landscapes and their colors, shapes and lines, which awaken longings in us while simultaneously containing the subtle presence of danger. Images emerge that originate from reality. However, not the one that is currently being experienced, but the reality that forms in myself over time, manifesting itself in my paintings. The forms found move between strong abstraction and familiar structures.
Most of the paintings start with "notes", which are small simple drawings that arise intuitively, then I decide whether I want to paint them. When I start with these drawings, the painting quickly takes on a life of its own. I paint with oil paint and oil pencils on canvas. I use a medium that makes the oil paint water-miscible, so I can create very thin watery layers as well as thicker ones. In conjunction with the oil pencils, I can create different textures. It is important to me that the canvas does not appear to be completely covered in paint. I also work with different techniques on paper.