An image composed of plants, light, and structure.
At its center: the strawberry plant — embedded in proliferating grass, interwoven with blades and stems, accompanied by organic diversity. A snapshot of growth. Yet unlike classical representations of nature, this work contains a second, hidden layer: UV-reactive pigments run through the image, invisible in daylight, fluorescent under blacklight.
What initially appears as a realistic natural still life transforms under altered lighting conditions into an entirely different image. Colors begin to glow, contours shift, new surfaces emerge. Visibility becomes a function of illumination; perception turns into a fleeting event.
The strawberry stands as a symbol of fertility and pleasure, but also of vulnerability and temporality. Its appearance within a spectral color space renders it more enigmatic — almost iconic, yet without pathos. The combination of classical oil painting and modern UV pigments connects traditional technique with an aesthetic that understands light not merely as illumination, but as an integral component of the pictorial logic.
Stylistically, the work operates within a post-naturalistic realism that no longer simply depicts nature, but reveals it as a projection surface for cultural attributions. At the same time, it gestures toward a post-historical, spectral realism — a painterly position that cites historical image concepts while extending them through a dimension of the invisible and the technological.
The work oscillates between botanical study, psychological landscape, and experimental light art. In its density of detail, it recalls the natural representations of earlier centuries; in its behavior under blacklight, it evokes associations with digital image spaces or immersive installations. What emerges is an intermediate zone: an image that is not fixed, but mutable — changing with light, with the gaze, with the surrounding space.
By day, the painting appears as a calm, almost meditative composition.
In nocturnal settings, it becomes vibrant, electric, nearly hallucinatory.
Two states, two atmospheres, one work.
RK, Berlin, 2025
Work Details
Title: Strawberries
Medium: Oil and UV pigments on canvas
Year: 2011