Coasts
originated in 1998

Detailed cartographic maps served as a basis for painting the pure landscape of selected coastal areas, excluding any details like roads, cities etc.

The result of an artistic flight. The title points to the object of Gassmann's satellite eye: coasts. When you start reflecting on this you wonder why these densely populated spaces of the earth seem to be represented without people. The blurred reliefs of the water surface, the softly ondulated land, ragged by the ocean and veined by rivers, look perfect and complete. Perhaps it is their utopian untouchedness which results in their particular beauty.

You seem to discover traces of grinding rather than painting. You wonder whether the colours of these paintings as well as the land which they represent have been formed solely by the influence of natural elements. After having transferred the map to the canvas the artist removes one layer of ink after the other with water. This process somehow corresponds to the process of formation of the landscape represented on the painting. These landscapes are spaces of art which are free to be "populated" individually.

Julia Otto, Göttingen, 1999

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