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Observing the inexhaustible wealth of forms and colours

Holger Triltsch

Holger Triltsch is a contemporary artist, mainly associated with Realism. He has always been fascinated by Renaissance artists like Da Vinci, Dürer, Raffael and Botticelli as well as by currents of realistic art. Nevertheless, he is still searching for his own strong and emotional visual language in which to express himself.



Born in 1966 near Berlin, he grew up in Falkensee, a small town in East Germany. Now he lives in Werder which is close to Potsdam. In East Germany he was part of various artist groups like “Keine Art“ and “Salon Visionell”. They worked on several art book projects because of difficulties with exhibitions in state galleries at that time. After 1989 Triltsch managed to exhibit his work in a number of cities in Germany. Since 2021 Holger Triltsch is most frequently exhibited in Italy, but also had exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He has also been in art fairs in Venice and Zurich. A lot of more information and details can be found on his page https://holger-triltsch.net/. In social media Triltsch gave himself the name Hieronymus Drosophilus, which refer to his engagement as an artist and biologist.



“As a little boy I loved to draw while sitting in front of my grandfather ́s gigantic wooden desk. I drew everything around me for example stones, mussles, buttons, coins, plants, birds and clouds. This was my own way to discover the world. Now, five decades later, I still draw and paint with the same fascination observing the inexhaustible wealth of forms and colours in our world. Last week I was impressed by the shimmering light on an old leather sofa, yesterday I marvelled at the beauty of wrinkled skin around the eyes of a woman and today I was amused by the flock of crows fighting over a walnut. Thus every day I find new motifs for the next drawing or painting. Then, working on it, I combine different techniques from drawing and painting as well as themes from classical mythology and the Renaissance taking into account my own experiences and perspectives.



On the one hand art is the best way for me to understand the world surrounding me. If I want to find out the difference between a beetle and a spider I have to observe and draw them. By drawing the wrinkled face of my 86-year-old mother I understand best what it means to live and get old. On the other hand, art is the only chance to cheat death. To create something unique which will last unchanged for a very long time is wonderful. What can be more exciting than standing in front of 15,000-year-old cave paintings of Lascaux people and getting some insights into their thoughts and feelings?

While working I am only focused on the next step. All brain work has been already done when I start drawing or painting. All my artwork has been created following a similar procedure. At first, I collect a lot of different pictures. I want to know exactly what the shadow of a nose looks like on a certain face or which colours are found on a slimy fish skin in the sun. After a few composition studies and an exact drawing I place layer upon layer of ink, shellac ink, pencil or acrylic paint by using resin varnish additionally. Most of my works consist of up to ten layers.


When I see my work completed then I feel like a wanderer on a long journey who has achieved another goal. For a moment I am happy, just thinking I have created my best work ever. But whether a work is really a good one, will be found out over the next few months on closer examination with more distance to it. Should I ever create an artwork which leaves the observer remaining silent and with teary eyes, I have achieved my aim.“


https://holger-triltsch.net

IG: @hieronymusdrosophilus

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