Artist Statement
ENG
Short Version: Through a lens of naturalist inquiry and devotion, I paint Baroque-inspired
sottobosco ecosystems that frame nature as an Andachtsbild, suspended between
primordial pasts and speculative post-human futures.

Long Version: My practice exists at the intersection of biophilia, curiosity, and devotion.
Inspired by naturalists such as Maria Sibylla Merian, Ernst Haeckel, and Alexander von Humboldt, my paintings engage with the natural world through a binocular lens of scientific investigation and aesthetic admiration. I embrace the acute objectivity and preciseness of Jan van Eyck and other Northern Renaissance painters, allowing myself to deliberately give reverence to every element from the natural world–from the iridescent beetle carapace to delicate fungal filaments.
Serving as a contemporary exploration of the sottobosco, the 17th-century painting genre depicting detailed forest flora, my devotion produces Baroque-inspired ecosystems where natural specimens come to life. My fantastical arrangements are made of authentic minerals, plants, and insects–like that of a cabinet of curiosities or Wunderkammer.
This pursuit of knowledge of the natural world comes from within nature itself, as we are not separate from it, but intrinsically a part of it. I allow nature to become its own Andachtsbild, a space for contemplating whether these ecosystems thrived in a primordial past or will flourish in a distant, post-human future.

BIO
Michael graduated with honors, receiving both his M.Ed. and MFA from Alanus University for Arts and Social Sciences in Bonn, Germany. Later he received an MFA from the New York Academy of Art while living and working in Brooklyn for three years. He has been awarded numerous stipends by the Federal Republic of Germany for his excelling performance in art. His work has been exhibited throughout Europe and New York in galleries, international art fairs as well as the Flag Art Foundation and the Paul Clemen Museum. His work has been featured in Hyperrealist Magazine as well as Fine Art Connoisseur and is part of the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Collection. Michael Weiss lives and works in Frankfurt and in addition to his studio practice, is currently assistant director and instructor at the Academy of Fine Art Germany. He is also an art educator for the Städel Art Museum and for the European Central Bank's art collection. Previously he had also worked for the Wallraf-Richartz Museum and the prestigious Bundeskunsthalle.

DE

Kurzfassung: Durch die Linse naturalistischer Forschung und Hingabe male ich barock
inspirierte Sottobosco-Ökosysteme, die die Natur als ein Andachtsbild rahmen – oszillierend
zwischen einer urzeitlichen Vergangenheit und spekulativen post-humanen Zukunft.

Langfassung: Meine Praxis existiert an der Schnittstelle von Biophilie, Neugier und Hingabe zum Objekt. Inspiriert von Naturforschern wie Maria Sibylla Merian, Ernst Haeckel und Alexander von Humboldt setzen sich meine Gemälde mit der natürlichen Welt, gesehen durch einen binokularen Fokus aus wissenschaftlicher Untersuchung und ästhetischer Bewunderung, auseinander. Ich mache mir die akute Objektivität und Präzision von Jan van Eyck und anderen Malern der Nordischen Renaissance zu eigen und widme jedem Element der Natur bewusst meine Verehrung – vom irisierenden Panzer eines Käfers bis hin zu zarten Pilzfilamenten.
Als zeitgenössische Erkundung des Sottobosco, jener Malgattung des 17. Jahrhunderts, die detaillierte Waldflora darstellt, erschafft meine Hingabe barock inspirierte Ökosysteme, in denen Naturobjekte zum Leben erwachen. Meine fantastischen Arrangements bestehen aus authentischen Mineralien, Pflanzen und Insekten – vergleichbar mit einer Kunst- und Wunderkammer.
Dieses Streben nach Wissen über die Natur entspringt der Natur selbst, da wir nicht von ihr getrennt, sondern intrinsisch ein Teil von ihr sind. Ich erlaube der Natur, ihr eigenes Andachtsbild zu werden: ein Raum für die Kontemplation darüber, ob diese Ökosysteme in einer urzeitlichen Vergangenheit gediehen oder in einer fernen, post-humanen Zukunft florieren werden.

BIO