Nico Sawatzki

n his paintings, Nico Sawatzki creates abstract pictorial spaces that generate a special depth effect through high-contrast lighting moods. While his older works mostly depict industrial, dynamic spatial constructions, his paintings since 2018 are more reminiscent of natural landscapes: By superimposing a multitude of layers of spray paint and acrylic glazes, the landscapes seem reduced to their essentials and oscillate between condensation and dissolution.

Sawatzki himself also describes his paintings as surfaces of his own memories. He sees the painting process as a kind of negotiation with mental pictorial spaces that can concentrate and evaporate, but never stand still. These inner images have neither a clear form nor are they fixed in a specific place. If we enter into a dialog with Sawatzki's works, they can act as filters for certain memories of places, people, smells or experiences. They could also raise questions such as: What exactly do we actually remember? Can we influence our memories? Or: To what extent does the present determine our view of the past or the past, our view of the present?