Literature

Transit - The Apparent and the Disappeared

In the pictorial work of Stephan Kaluza, it generally revolves around representations of nature, whether through black and white blurrings, hyperrealistic depictions (oil on canvas), or nearly abstract portrayals of forests, water surfaces, or undergrowth. An apparent idyll is painted, for not everything in these images is pure nature: disturbances creep in, and often appearances deceive, especially when idyllic landscapes conceal former battlefields or other places of human abysses. Thus, these images acquire a second level: the ostentatious beauty of nature in the Nunc Stans, in the timeless present, becomes questionable. Kaluza also transfers this idea to highly personal reminiscences; for instance, he painted a breaking wave on the coast of Brazil, where he nearly drowned several years before. Therefore, the underlying second level of these images is, if you will, actually the first; it is less about copying the visible than exploring what lies hidden behind the force of nature and, thus, it particularly concerns the central question: What is creation?