Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.

Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Valentina II - Part of an on going series Hidden Concepts.
An Interview with Patrick Becker.

Who and from where are you?

My Name is Patrick Becker. I live and work in Hamburg, Germany, where I was also born. (Beautiful City. If it doesn´t rain…like on that sunny day in 1997..)


How you got into this?

When I was eight years old my Mother decided I should do some sports. So a friend of hers proposed Ballet. I actually liked it (since I was the only boy in class ) and eventually became a Ballet Dancer with the Hamburg Ballet. It was a great time with nice roles and the possibility to travel a lot; and seeing lots of different places and cultures. But I always felt the need to create my own art, rather than interpreting  the work of others. Then, when I was 24, I thought it was time to move on. I started to study Theater -Direction at the Hamburg University and finished with my Diploma. I went on to direct and choreograph some pieces and while doing that got into filming as well. For a few years I directed commercials, which were good for my bank account, but a Disaster for my Soul. And my body told me so in the most drastic of ways: I got really sick and almost died. I still suffer from the aftermath of this illness, but, on the light side, finally found the time to do, what I always liked doing in my free time: Painting.   


What is your driving force?

Emotional curiosity…: 
Every Portrait starts by looking at the outside of a Person and the Question, if and how that Person resonates within me. Be it a beautiful Woman, Myself or a perfect stranger. I´m searching for those parts of the painted Person´s personality, that lie hidden beneath the Surface. Sometimes the things I find are painful, sometimes dark, sometimes passionate and powerful - and sometimes all together. Thus, whenever I start a new Painting, I feel like an "Emotional Explorer"; investigating human emotions in all their dimensions. I paint what I see or what I would like to see or could have seen - and then hope, my work shows, what´s actually there. Also I like to broaden the concept of Portraiture as I think not only the face of a Person can represent the Personality but rather the whole body reflects the being of the human. 

…and despair: 
Every time I am done with a Portrait I feel I could only capture a Glimpse, a fraction of that Person´s Personality. So I need to do another one. And one more….


What kind of work you do and why?

I guess I`m a Serial Painter. I like exploring a subject, until I think I have digged deep enough to move on and explore another one. And because I do think „form is substance“, I tend to use a different technical approach to different themes. For example, I did a Series of „Incorporated Idols“, where I worked only with Ink and Pens on canvas. As for this Series - „Hidden Concepts - The Current State Of A Fluctuating Uncertainty“ - I try to contrast the individual’s outside (painted in soft, light brushstrokes) with the underlying Emotion. Much like in acting, I find, there is always a "Subtext" supporting or contrasting the Portrait of a Person. In “Blue Hour” it is the obvious Melancholia of the figure being opposed by a powerful gesture of resolve, which reflects into the room beyond the woman.  Starting with a Graphite Sketch from Photos I took. This is actually how I usually work, as in that photo session I find the painting I want to do. For the underpainting I use quite a lot of Retarders and as I am putting on layers of colors to work out the Skin I reduce Retarders. For the Background I use raw acrylics and spatulas. A lot of times my fingers come in handy, too.
I use acrylics here, because I wanted some cuts and bruises in my paintings; using a Mix of brushes and spatulas. Thus I try to give my works a rough texture opposing the soft brush-strokes of the Portraits themselves.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Black Eye - Part of an ongoing series Hidden Concepts.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Ice Storm - Part of an ongoing series Hidden Concepts.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Blue Hour - Part of an ongoing series Hidden Concepts.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Unbound - Part of an ongoing series Hidden Concepts.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
A Darker Self - Part of an ongoing series Hidden Concepts.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Not My Skin - Part of an ongoing series Hidden Concepts.
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Persephone
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Color Blind
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Letzte Umarmung
Portraits by Patrick Becker from Hamburg, Germany.
Granat
For more of Patrick Becker Check this link of his Instagram account:- https://www.instagram.com/patrickbecker_art/ or his website http://www.patrickbecker.net/

All Images are copyright by: Patrick Becker
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