Caspar Baum

My work is influenced by the light and structure of objects. It plays with shadows and illumination, background and front, separating into layers and re-composing those layers to a new imagination. I would compare my work with music, with the waves of sounds and changing instrumentation.

My work is significantly inspired by my frequent travel to Asia, referring to principles of harmony, as known in the perception of art in Asia. The envelope of the canvas is carefully divided into areas corresponding in size and density to each other, trying to avoid aggressive unbalanced situations. The selection of colors follows the range of materials and elements which are traditional for Asia, its nature and man-made treasures.

My admiration for the Orient has taken me to many places, mainly to China, and I am attracted both to the scenery and the art of this amazing culture. But more importantly, it is the atmosphere, the quietness and the meditative way of feeling things - turning inside and trying to establish harmony and balance - that I want to convey with brush strokes or pencil lines.

I try to balance the allocation of subjects with unobstructed backgrounds in my work. Some areas are blurred to allow for an open perception - being anything from a forest, a valley, to a surface of a stone wall. Other parts of the work are allocated on the canvas for distinct objects, such as a tree, part of a temple, the edge of a bush or the Great Wall. These changes from undefined material to condensed structure highlight details with shadow, contrast and white reflection. My “Mongolia” views for example are inspired by the first aerial impressions which a passenger gets in the early morning just before landing in Beijing. They are a diary of a traveler. This particular diary has no words, it has paintings that describe the landscapes.

In my paintings, I aim to depict my artistic journeys and the deep influences many countries have had on me, which I want to share with others.