DÆDALUS: Which is the first art exhibition you remember being struck by?
Fabian Treiber: Well, I can’t exactly remember, but there’s actually one, which really struck me. You know, one of these exhibitions, in which you wish yourself back in time, to visit it again. It was a Stan Douglas show and in particular, I was totally overwhelmed from the work “Le Detroit”.
D: Name a contemporary and modern artist that were influential for you
F.T.: Oh there are so many of course, but for instance, I would name David Hockney, to play both roles.
D: Tell us about a memorable dream…
F.T.: I’m sorry, but I almost remember none of my dreams. Sometimes I keep fragments in the morning, which fade away over the day. What I remember quite often, is that I’m acting on different layers of my dreams and the most important is probably, that there’s often one layer, in which I am totally aware of, that I’m dreaming… beholding myself.
D: Is the interior in your paintings completely detached from the exterior?
F.T.: That is difficult to answer. I would always ask what exactly detached means in this sense. In my paintings everything should be in a fragile balance. A demarcation line, which is to be described by the painting itself. So, no, it can’t ever become detached from each other.
D: At what point do you know that your painting is finished?
F.T.: The question of all questions. Well, I don’t really know it, the painting does.
The paintings somehow grow towards me and I just follow, until there’s nothing more to fulfill.
D: Did you ever happen to erase a paining? If so which one and why?
F.T.: Back then, when trying to find my kind of painting, it happened of course. I guess, mostly because, I wasn’t patient enough, also a lack of experience and that I couldn’t step away from my own expectations and perceptions. By now, I try to listen closely to what the painting’s telling me. In so doing and giving myself enough time, I always find a way to proceed.
D: If you were to choose one collection in which your work could be featured, which would it be?
F.T.: I don’t know exactly. I mean, I could maybe name large public collections, but I think that would sound a bit trite. I’m grateful that my work is already in some fantastic collections. What happens every time is, that I like so much the idea that my work, will be preserved somehow. Let’s just wait and see what the future brings.
D: Is there is something you do to set the mood while you paint?
F.T.:On the one hand I would say music, but on the other hand I try not to commit myself too much to a particular mood. Even if you wouldn’t realize that at first glance, but I really try not be narrative in my paintings. I’m doing my decisions formally – even though I use fragments and substitutes from everyday life to create a fragile stage. So it’s a bit ambivalent, I have to be in a specific mood, I have to be motivated; but also aware and open to any change of course in painting. In a way and definitely in my case, always trying to have a permeable mind.
D: What is the function of time in your paintings?
F.T.: That’s an interesting question. I think time works on many different levels in my paintings. I’ve always been fascinated of time in paintings. I mean, a painting in general contains and deals with so many kinds of time. I think a painting is always compressed or even distilled time, and in that, the good paintings have this tremendous energy. An energy that they are always trying to expand. When I think about my work in that sense, I’m always trying to somehow make time resonate through the paintings. In a way, I try to create moments of raptured time. Suggestive moments of time. For example, a time of day that you can’t really name, or a time frame with no beginning or end.
D: A contemporary artist you feel is killing it?
F.T.: There are so many, but I think Danica Lundy is really killing it! Love her work.
