Franziska Koch

Lives and works in Leipzig, Germany

Artist statement

My painting is characterised by powerful lines, gestural directness, and an open process that moves between control and intuition. Working with the physical qualities of oil paint through layering, scraping back, and the interplay of glazed and impasto surfaces, I explore the expressive potential of the medium. Forms emerge, dissolve, and reappear, allowing the paintings to remain deliberately open and ambiguous. At the centre of my practice are painterly snapshots of intimate encounters, moments in which vulnerability, connection, alienation, and desire become tangible. Drawing on memories, longings, and everyday observations, I create portraits and group scenes that invite personal associations rather than fixed narratives. Queer identity, sexuality, and the fluidity of gender are recurring themes throughout my work. I am particularly interested in moments of ambiguity, when boundaries begin to blur and multiple readings become possible. This interest extends from the depiction of bodies and relationships to the material surface itself, where dense, tactile textures intertwine with translucent veils of colour. I am fascinated by the tension between seeming opposites: solidity and dissolution, intimacy and distance, control and chance. It is through these contrasts that the paintings gradually coalesce into a unified image.

Artwork