About Insa Hoffmann

My painting moves within the tension between representation and abstraction. Motifs such as landscapes, flowers, trees, still lifes, or architecture are developed into reduced, abstract compositions. At the center of my interest lies the interplay between order and gesture – the structured grid meets the spontaneous, physically guided mark.

I prefer to work with oil paints for their luminosity and depth. To enhance the surface textures, I use a self-made beeswax medium. Collage elements increasingly find their way into my work as well, adding additional spatial layers. The starting point is often an impression from my immediate surroundings. Yet, in the painting process, the original idea is frequently abandoned in favor of a newly emerging pictorial reality. The form evolves through a rhythmic alternation of paint application and scraping – the image is, in a sense, peeled out of the paint matter itself.

I don’t follow repeatable formulas but work in a process-oriented way. Chance and the unforeseen are not disturbances to me, but integral parts of the artistic process. In dialogue with the painting, moments arise that cannot be planned – and it is precisely in these moments that I find the essence of painting.