Jan Ziegler

random aesthetics

Berlin-based artist Jan Ziegler was born in southern Germany in 1974. He graduated from design studies in 2000 and has been working for numerous renowned and international fashion and lifestyle brands since then. Jan’s exquisite sense of aesthetics is also reflected in his work as a freelance artist and as a lecturer at several eminent fashion and design institutes.

As a visually orientated person, he began exploring art and design at an early age. In 2011, he initiated working on his independent artist profile and using the medium of painting to capture snapshots of human emotions in abstract visual references.

Jan’s abstracted landscapes appeal to the viewer’s unconscious perception, they seem placeless and bestow a mysteriously vacuos, almost hermetic sense of atmosphere.

In his often abstracted portrait works, Jan pursues a concept of subtle beauty that reaches beyond established ideals. Primarily male faces, they fascinate through their magical presence, and appear lost in reverie, sometimes looking almost stereotypical whilst leaving space for individual associations and interpretation.

Jan usually takes researched photographs as inspiration for his paintings, but he is also influenced by afterimages of random encounters as well as visual impressions, and specific light situations that reveal themselves to him. These are fleeting moments of enchantment that he preserves on canvas with acrylic paint. A swift, gestural work process allows the consideration of intuitive aesthetic decisions that do not exclude the moment of chance.

Jan’s work has been exhibited in national and international group shows and can be found in private collections in Europe, Australia and the United States.

What is it about your studio space that inspires you?

the berlin sky above the opposite buildings facades

What is your favourite material to work with? How has your use of it evolved throughout your practice?

acryllic on canvas and experimenting with unusual materials

What themes do you pursue?

abstract studies, landscapes, portraits, the human figure, intuition driven and random coincidence processes

If you could install your art absolutely anywhere, where would that be?

within a collection of ancient greek statues

What are your favourite places besides your studio?

big cities, the lakes, the woods and the beaches

EXHIBITIONS

GROUP

EDUCATION (detailed)

LINKS