This winter, the Swiss brand Vitra invites us to take a look behind the doors of three homes, all as different as their residents. In this story, we meet Hamburg-based artist Paul Schrader who has created a studio and home for himself and his art.
Resident:
Artist Paul Schrader, who first worked as a lawyer before becoming a freelance artist in 2018. He lives and works in Hamburg, Germany. Schrader’s colorful paintings are expressive and abstract.
“WHEN IT COMES to furnishing, I don’t follow a strategy: I like something, and it all sort of fits together and just like a painting, furniture can function as a time capsule. The moment of creation has passed, but there was someone who painted it or, in the case of furniture, who designed it.
When I graduated high school, I didn’t think being an artist was a real profession. I first studied law and became a lawyer. But painting was always there.
I believe that when you feel a burning passion for something, you release energy and create things that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve.
Inspiration is like a spring or a river. The next flow of ideas always comes, but you can’t tell when. It might be at night or while riding the subway. For me, it’s mainly colour combinations, inner landscapes or dreamscapes. It’s a feeling that I then express in colours.
“The next flow of ideas always comes, but you can’t tell when.”
I live and work in different places, but this is my base, this is where I like to paint the most. It doesn’t work everywhere. A house is like a canvas. Mine has very high walls and high ceilings, all in white, and the paintings are displayed against this background.
I like to keep my furniture in the same spot. Once it fits, it fits. It’s like a painting that you compose and then is never changed.
When you see an art work, you recognise an intrinsic value, a cultural context in mind. The author, the time and the work merge into a single idea. That also applies to classic furniture.”
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See also:
• Vitra Home Stories: Karin and Xavier Donck collect objects that tell stories >
• All Vitra products >
Edit: Nora Uotila Images: Vitra