Water is the central element in Bernd Kirschners painting. Man consists predominantly of this substance, and creation myths of almost all cultures have always entwined around the life-giving liquid. Water is still a mystery to basic physical research today. Born in Memmingen, Bavaria, in 1980, the artist takes up the power of water and its secret in his work.

In his paintings he questions this suspenseful connection between mystery and transparency. Behind numerous layers of transparent paint, painted on top of each other, fantastic landscapes and groups of figures emerge, all of them only hinted at, veiled, appearing behind a kind of fog and haze, or in carefully constructed reflections.

"Each picture holds a secret that we can discover ourselves in a 'precise openness'. This often happens subconsciously. If you want to get involved, then a metamorphosis from color matter to a new pictorial world takes place," says Kirschner.

These works are representational and abstract at the same time. Figurative elements are taken from the real world and integrated into color spaces as set pieces. This results in an image that is reduced to the essentials. The actual overall picture is created in our heads.

Bernd Kirschner studied free painting at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart. His work has been awarded numerous scholarships, including the Academy Prize of the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart in 2002 and 2004, the Beijing Studio Scholarship in 2011, the Künstlerhaus Edenkoben Studio Scholarship in 2013, and the Art Factory Residency Scholarship in Budapest in 2015. Since 2017 he has been guest professor in Hangzhou/China. Bernd Kirschner lives and works in Konstanz on Bodensee.