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This is the official website of Jonas Dettki

 

I am a German painter currently based between London and Munich.

 

In my work, I am interested in moments when the boundaries between ourselves, our surroundings, and other forms of life begin to blur. Intense emotional, psychological, or sensory experiences can make us less self-conscious and create a feeling of being part of something larger than ourselves. I am interested in how painting can approach these experiences and create a space where these boundaries become less clear.

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My paintings move between figuration and abstraction. Human and non-human figures overlap, merge and accumulate, sometimes forming larger shapes that resemble rock formations, landscapes or terrain. Individual bodies can become difficult to distinguish as they transform into something new. I am interested in this movement between the individual and the collective, and between recognizable forms and their dissolution into abstraction.

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The way I make the paintings is closely connected to these ideas. I work primarily with acrylic and oil, using transparent layers, stains, and more direct applications of paint, often on raw or transparently primed linen. Some parts of the process are carefully controlled, while in others I allow the materials to behave more freely. I work back and forth between the two, responding to forms as they appear and allowing the image to change throughout the process.

I draw inspiration from ecology, natural environments, sacred traditions, mythology, and the idea of a collective consciousness. Although these subjects come from different places, I am drawn to the ways they can challenge a clear separation between the individual and the world around them. Painting allows me to bring these ideas together without resolving them into a single answer.

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