Reiner Heidorn

Lives and works in Weilheim in Oberbayern, Germany

Artist statement

„overpainting history“ the schoolmaps project Reiner Heidorn Reiner Heidorn is a German painter with a focus on freshwater microorganisms, plants, and chlorophyll. Using his own technique, he translates the pointillism of microscope photographs into abstract expressionism. He also collects natural materials and uses leaves, twigs, and blossoms as print templates for his abstract, botanical pictorial spaces. Reiner Heidorn has collected old school maps and paints them over, including maps from the Nazi regime. In doing so, he aims to keep historical memory alive and take a stand against denial. The schoolmaps’ erased borders and re-coded place-names evoke questions of jurisdiction and education. Overlaying botanical-water motifs transforms these surfaces into a lagoon-like field where memory can flow and refract light. “Growing up amid Germany’s layered history, I am formed by guilt and responsibility. My work interrogates how national narratives are remembered, and how the past persists in the present through images.” Statement: "The maps have been radically painted over, so that the original content is no longer visible. Only the titles remain as a silent reminder of a dark era. Through botanical motifs, I create a contrast between life, growth, and memory: Nature grows beyond the past, yet traces of history remain visible in the choice of motifs, the structure of the image, and the color. A warning against forgetting, trivialization, and denial of history. The...

Artwork