What all these previous works as well as the current series of works have in common is that the choice of motifs was motivated again and again by an interest in other cultures and travels to distant countries. This is especially true of “INTO THE WILD”: Expeditions to the savannas of Africa, travels to the sheer endless expanses of North America, tours along the rugged coastline of Scotland or searching for traces through the green wilderness of Latvia and through German forests and the Alps, they all lead the artist couple to their current range of themes: Animals – “WILD LIFE”, fruit – “WILD FRUITS” and wood – “WILD WOOD”.
In doing so, Sascha and Ingo Maas continue to develop their always carefully aligned mode of working together artistically: With the camera individual subjects and situations are captured on site. In sketches, details are documented spontaneously and first composition ideas are drafted for the works created later in the studio. Extraordinary forms of fruits are observed carefully to bring out their special features and plasticity. Amorphous forms and the surface texture and structures of exotic wood are reduced to abstract sculptures. Wild animals and birds of prey are portrayed in moments of immediate authenticity, so that unique portraits of immense gracefulness are created. The different subjects in their solitary portrayal turn into protagonists and reach the viewer’s inner core. The artists are concerned with unspoiled nature and show it in its distinctive beauty.
During their travels to Africa, for example through South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe or the Kalahari Desert, the artist couple is not only thrilled by the wild animals but even more so by the wilderness as such. Out there, where nature is still untouched and far away from human civilization. Out there, where mobile devices are doomed to silence and the fast pace of everyday life does not mean a thing. Time has a different meaning here; it actually has a different dimension and is still very much in its original harmony with nature. On their safaris, Sascha and Ingo Maas also submit themselves to these rhythms predefined by nature, and explore the animal and plant world intensively, while experiencing unforgettable moments they wish to convey in their pictures.
Finally, in the studio, images, frequently in large formats, are produced, in which both artists combine their impressions in their typical way of working together. In successive work steps, they join their individual painting and drawing techniques until they blend inseparably.
In this process, between the differentiated approach of drawing and the abstract use of color, it is again and again the experiment they search for. This catalogue shows a selection of these pictures and gives a lively impression of what motivates Sascha and Ingo Maas repeatedly to create their work: to translate the joy of nature and the beauty of pristine life forms into an unmistakable artistic language.
Alexandra Wendorf M. A
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