Bernd Kirschner

Bernd Kirschner’s paintings consist of numerous layers of oils painted on canvas, which overlap and so merge into an overall image. This only reaches completion, however, in the mind of the viewer. The artist’s main interest is in this process – the patterns and nature of human vision, as well as the essence of painting.
In Kirschner’s paintings the transparent layers of colour resemble filters, through which part of the light permeates onto the canvas, in order to be reflected back from there to the viewer’s retina, slightly altered by layers of grounding and glaze. The depth of image develops through the quality and impact of the reflected light alone. Knowing that the human eye, when roaming, always looks for connection points, Kirschner deliberately exploits this: he sets visual triggers, which the mind requires in order to access impressions – with the help of memory and past viewing experience.  These impressions then put together the actual image behind the viewer’s retina. A finished painting is a visual proposition to the viewer, consciously plumbing both the visible and invisible, which he can complete and make unique in his own mind.