Lukas Quietzsch

Do I see a word?

Lukas Quietzsch is a creative artist working in ceramics, installation, drawing, with his studio practice currently devoted to the use of gouache on intricately sewn canvas. Ordinarily, “painting” would be sufficient to describe what Lukas does, but his unique approach is far more complex than the typical application of paint onto a surface. Lukas’s paintings are stained with the gouache, washed out, painted over, and washed again; the exact process is not known when we look at the work. Lukas leaves it like this—a reminder that not everything can or must be known.

For the Jahresgaben at Kunstverein Düsseldorf, Lukas has produced three drawings that relate to a larger, painted whole. Each piece is mounted on dyed fabric and intricately framed. Each depicting word, figure, void, coil, and cave rendered in ink and colored pencil; each is unique but consists of repeating motifs.

In the modern tradition of Magic (known as Chaos Magic, as developed by Austin Osman Spare), Sigil-making is common practice. A Sigil is the result of taking linguistic units—a phrase that articulates a wish or desire—and turning them into a symbol. One must deconstruct the letters’ parts to gradually form an image with which the author charges all their magical and hopeful intent. Words literally transformed to image. You meditate on your Sigil—and repetition is key here, because when something is really important, you have to say it over, and over, and over again.

– Angharad Williams