Recently, Till Steinberger has been working on wall rugs that he "shoots" into stretched textile with a tufting gun. In the interview he explains his working method and goes into detail about a specific motif.
What inspires you and how do you create your works?
I am inspired by nature and man. Especially man with his structures, architecture, design, colors, music, CD covers and poster designs. Generally, colorful and flashy patterns catch me.
Mostly the works are created after a basic idea is not yet fully formed. Then I go after the feeling felt in the process, partly intuitive and also constructed.
What subjects influence your works?
The design aspect is always my priority. A work must fulfill certain optical features. My focus is on inner worlds, perception, feelings, nature and civilization.
How would you describe your style?
Graphic, high-contrast, striking, reduced, but also sometimes with realistic details.
What do you draw strength from?
I like to be outside in nature, listen to a lot of music and relax with daily meditation. Good food also gives me a lot of strength.
Is it important to you that your art has certain statements? So in general - and what is the new work about?
The visual is my priority, so before meaning and interpretation. I want to express the image's atmosphere as it emerges within my imagination. Resulting statements comprise ecology, partly world-political events and the effects of humans on nature.
In the new work you see an abstracted city, relatively gloomy and distorted.
The Rug was made in blue, black and white with neon yellow elements. The design without the lightning has existed on my hard drive for some time. When I bought the material for the wool, the neon yellow one struck me like lightning and so I adapted the original design with neon yellow elements. The city looks dystopian and also in the title is a lot in it: current - current refers to telecommunications, media, everything is driven and directed by electric current.
What are you working on right now? What else do you have planned for 2022?
At the moment I am working on more rug artworks. The next work will be a harmonious, positive landscape. Building on the work 'Current State of Affairs' I want to create a series of rugs.