Wounded, injured, affected. Life takes its toll. Takes away, adds and demands permanent change. My protagonists show themselves with these paintings. No surface is too smooth. No gaze too straight. No posture too upright. Because there is no such thing as perfection. Especially not in a world in which perfection is valued as higher, faster, further – and in which overconfidence has taken precedence over self-criticism. A panopticon of pride that is as crumbling as it is courageous. Of personalities who face up to life. People who are familiar with fear, but who also know that it depends on how they deal with this fear. A rebellion and rebellion. Marked, but not broken. Shining high gloss on the wrong track in a circus whose ring is surrounded by likes.

Olaf Auser – 04/2023