Moritz Kellerman

Artist Statement

My paintings are a history of complex layers. Do viewers see only the surface colors or are they able to see deeper into the layers? Will they see the individual layers that lead to the seen surface? This complexity of layers is created slowly over time by the use of the glazing process. This process I have adopted is my direct connection to my heroes of the past, the Renaissance Old Masters. I never begin a work with an end in mind. I allow for the creation process to reveal its own story. Every application of paint and medium, each painting's multiple semi-transparent layers of color, work together to form the painting's own individual and particular history. As an artist I enjoy the challenge of manipulating the spectrum of colors to create beauty. As an educator, I continue to strive to equip my students to delve into their own explorations of color and creating.
​Ever since I can remember, I have been enamored with the work of the Italian Renaissance and their technique of oil painting: glazing. My use of wood panels hearkens back to the Old Masters as well. The majority, such as DaVinci, used wood panels, and even when linen became available, they glued linen to wood. My work is about color, but my use of color is different from other painters. I mix paint on the surface, like Monet did. Instead of mixing colors and letting them speak side by side, I paint in multiple layers. Multiple, microscopically thin layers of paint and medium and the resulting color and transparency reveal each painting’s own history. Layers can be opaque, transparent, or semi-transparent, depending on the amount of medium. Light penetrates all the way to the first layer. Every pigment has its own characteristics. A hint of the first color is revealed in a scar. It’s like dancing, going back and forth, and back and forth. Each individual painting has its own history that speaks for itself. I’m very happy that I can make them do that. The space and the process are very spiritual. I connect with the divine when I am painting in my studio.