JONATHAN ESPERESTER

My name is Jonathan Esperester and I live and work as a freelance artist in Berlin.

In my collage-like paintings, I am very interested in the materiality of the image. I try to make the process visible on the canvas - different layers with different materials (oil, acrylic, airbrush, ink, varnish, window color, foil, etc.) are placed on top of each other and create a tension between surface and space.

In addition, I work with small objects that are attached to the picture on pedestals and form a kind of “totem” for the respective picture.

Thematically, I am interested in "magical thinking" in the present. In this regard, I particularly examine the human perception and classification of reality. For me, man-made categories such as "naturalness" carry an ambivalence that reflects the enormous diversity of the world and thus develops a kind of magic. I try to capture this in objects and stage it in stage-like spaces as part of an unknown ritual.

The often nostalgic objects enable the viewer to find an emotional connection to my surreal imagery and to question their own perception.

In my pictures I am looking for the fantastic element that makes the everyday seem magical.