Johannes Seefried

Lives and works in Düsseldorf and Berlin, Germany

Artist statement

In my work, time becomes more. It accumulates. Past, present, and what is yet to come are simultaneously at work within a moment. What has happened cannot be undone. Whatever happens enters into relations, influences further change, and becomes a condition for what may follow. I am interested in extended, interconnected processes of change that unfold before our eyes, yet often remain unnoticed until their effects reach a threshold. What appears to happen suddenly may instead be the visible moment of a change that began long before. Memory, selection, focus, and repetition influence what we give weight to and how it enters into our perception. This understanding of time also shapes the materiality of my work. Earth, sand, clay, paper, and paint are layered, joined, covered, and partially exposed again. Each intervention changes the work without entirely replacing what preceded it. Earlier states remain physically present within the body of the work. For me, an artwork is therefore not a fixed state, but a simultaneity.

Artwork

• Der Moment, als das letzte Blatt auf den unversehrten Boden Pompejis fiel (The Moment When the Last Leaf Fell onto the Untouched Ground of Pompeii), 2025. Sand, basalt, terracotta, paper, and chalk on canvas
• Der treue Hund als Nationalheld – 22.02.1943 (The Faithful Dog as a National Hero – 22 February 1943), 2025. Clay, paper, paint, acrylic, gouache, wire and wood on wood
• Der Moment, als Daedalus die Achtsamkeit der elterlichen Aufsichtspflicht verloren ging (The Moment When Daedalus Lost Sight of His Parental Duty of Care), 2025. Sand, basalt, wire, coin and paint on canvas
• Cézannes Muschel im Lichte des Blattwerks (Cézanne’s Shell in the Light of the Foliage), 2024. Earth, sand, shell, pine needles, and gouache on canvas
• 15. Januar Palermo (15 January, Palermo), 2026. Earth, sand, stone, olives, paper on canvas
• Die Geburt Aphrodites in der Tiefsee (The Birth of Aphrodite in the Deep Sea), 2026. Sand, paint, oyster shells, and Korean color on canvas
• Der Moment, als ein Blatt in den Ozean fiel (The Moment When a Leaf Fell into the Ocean), 2025. Sand, paper, and korean gouache on canvas
• Als Regen auf das frische Fresko fiel (When Rain Fell on the Fresh Fresco), 2025. Sand, gravel, and gouache on wood
• Aus dem Schaum geboren (Born from the Foam), 2025. Sand, stone, oyster shell, and paint on canvas