Painting has its own temporality. How do you relate to time and slowness in painting?

This is probably painting's most important quality. Painting has the ability to almost hold time within itself. I work fast and it does not take me very long to finish a painting. The end result should have a simple feel to it, and I have to be content with the 'milieu' in which the separate elements counteract. The work is ready when it looks inviting and poses questions to the viewer. On the other hand, it takes time for the different layers in a painting to dry, and this gives me the necessary time to reflect on what I did the day before.

What do you think about the much more relaxed atmosphere for painters of your generation?

I must admit I haven't thought about it. Honestly, I find the process of painting frustrating, and the relaxed atmosphere is something I meet the further away I move from painting. Maybe it's more relaxed in our generation, but as a whole I don't find the situation too relaxed.

What is your relationship to the tradition of painting? What is the relevance of painting?

Naturally, you are connected to tradition, but I haven't really read that much theoretical or art-historical literature. I think a lot about what painting is or could be, but I am not that interested in its theory. Instead I read good detective novels and such. I am quite restless and prefer easier, speedier stuff. Lately I have read quite a lot about the history of Berlin, and watched films and videos about the Cold War and World War II.

Most important for me is the desire to draw - I actually stopped painting at the Academy, because I found it so difficult and drew instead. It is still difficult, but working with materials and colour makes me continue with this game.

The resistance within the process and the moments when one gets something right make me carry on. The longer I work with painting, the more language-like qualities this activity starts to acquire. The different components in paintings are almost like bits of a building or a room, and when composed correctly they actually make up a space. Different elements also acquire their own character or can represent certain temperaments. This applies when I work without recognisable motives. When it comes to more 'readable' works, like Flying Lake System, the painting is nearer to drawing. All in all, my works quite rarely come out as figurative or contain figurative elements. With Flying Lake Systems I was after illogical structures. It functioned as a symbol for the poetic - something invisible that one has not seen. I don't want to limit the question of relevance solely to painting. Good things happen with other media as well - I just like to paint.

You use many elements from nature in your works. Does nature have a special value for you, or is it more like a good vehicle for visualising things that are important to you?

Yes, it has a special value. I believe nature as motif has the ability to remain neutral, thus giving me the freedom to paint it in ways that interest me. I can also use it as metaphor for issues or emotional states of mind that I want to depict. What makes working interesting are the things that come out which I hardly recognise. I have noticed that these motifs nevertheless have a referent in nature. It can be a rainbow, the sea or a mountain.

What is your relationship to colour. Why do you use certain colours?

It's quite hard to answer that. The ideal situation would be to make a painting that contains everything and nothing. Somehow painting is like working backwards. During the process one gets angry and frustrated, but hopefully in the end one has managed to do these pirouettes with the garbage and come out with something good. While doing this, different ideas about colours and themes also come up, which surface in other works. Something has happened throughout this journey, which can be seen in the final work.

What about sketches - do you try out certain colour combinations on a smaller scale before starting to work with a painting?

No. Colour acts differently on a bigger scale, so sketches are a bit like warm-up exercises. It is quite exhausting to start working on a bigger painting - I get nervous at the beginning.

You also paint over certain areas in your works?

Yes, but that does not have any specific significance. I just cover areas that have not helped me to get the end result I wanted. But I don't have a problem with revealing that I have made changes. After all it's just a painting. Sometimes it is possible to continue after a change, sometimes not - the painting can become too dense.

What is the artist's role?

To try and make good and interesting works for themselves or for others. And when they succeed, it might create a reason for existing. But that's just wishful thinking. In reality I guess it is more about creating a party where everybody is invited.