Konstantin Fürchtegott Kipfmüller, a guy with a peculiar name and many talents arrived in our lives almost 20 years ago. Back then he was one of those talented skate kids that would kickflip any stair set in their way.

Now after some very exiting and some dangerous years he has reinvented himself, or better metamorphosed into an abstract painter. Konstantin currently studies painting at the renown Hfg Offenbach and when he is not with his girlfriend, his child and his dog you find him painting at his atelier located in an old mill.

On the eve of his first solo exhibition we asked him some questions about his current state of mind. 

LR: Comparing to your first conscious painting with the last painting you created for your recent exhibition, what stayed the same and what changed?

KFK: Mixing the colours out of feeling and the joy of the process are the same now as they were then. Back then I mostly drank beer while painting, now this happens extremely rarely. The room situation has also changed, when I painted my first pictures I had to paint in my childhood room, now I'm lucky enough to be able to work in my own studio.

LR: Why did you decide to make art your priority in your professional life?

Why is art important?

KFK: I don't want to do any other job in the future that doesn't involve art, because painting is my passion.

LR: How did you arrive at painting abstract?

KFK: After a difficult time with psychological problems, I approached abstract painting by experimenting with colour and canvas. My style has changed a lot since studying at the Offenbach University of Art and Design, but I still work with abstract structures and forms.

I can use abstract art to transform my subconscious feelings and imprints into an aesthetic language.

LR: What was the creative process like of your last solo exhibition?

KFK: I exhibited current works and works from the last year for the first time in my adopted home. It was also my first solo exhibition.

LR: Have you always worked with bright colors? And if so, whats the story behind?

KFK: I have always worked with eye-catching self-mixed colour combinations.

At the moment I like bright dark contrasts and neon colours and especially orange. The choice of colour is always intuitive and subconscious.

LR: What changed for your after visting art school? Why was it important to you?

KFK: I gained a new and inspiring perspective on art.

Through the theoretical and practical input at the university, my view of art continues to develop.

I also gain valuable experience by taking part in interesting exhibitions. The most important part of studying for me is the exchange with other art students and friends there.

LR: What was your inspiration?

KFK: I love walking through nature and the city. I soak up different aesthetic structures there. I am particularly interested in surfaces that have been altered by weathering and wear and tear, which can be fences, walls, etc.

Curiosities in the forest or in urban space. Everyday situations and the hustle and bustle of cities on the one hand and the tranquillity and deceleration of the forest on the other.

LR: What are your next upcoming projects?

KFK: I would like to expand my way of working and add a few more techniques.

I have another group exhibition coming up at the end of the month in Wiesbaden and then I'm already preparing for our tour of the university.

LR: Something you want to tell your teenager version?

KFK: Less partying and no drugs, more skateboarding and creative development.