From the very beginning, I always strived to create a narrative within my paintings, collages, frottages (monotypes), drawings or installations. I decided early on to reflect certain aspects of our lives and constantly developing societies in my work. My goal has been to evoke the sense of a subtle message in people, one that is revelatory of where our society is at that particular moment in time, seen through my personal filter. And further for people to realize that products we buy or images we see in the media, that may seem “normal” or pedestrian at first glance, upon closer inspection and juxtaposed, may suddenly appear controversial.

 

I want people to feel like a detective when observing my work, initially finding themselves drawn in by a sleek surface, yet then finding themselves momentarily lost in it, and hopefully discovering deeper, more profound meaning within. Often the political or social commentary evolves out of juxtapositions drawn from the glamorous, glitzy world of advertising, the media onslaught, celebrity gossip, fashion and the “branding” of the world, versus the imagery found in National Geographic or Time Magazine.

I combine these divergent stories in collage-like oil paintings, referring to a thought process of Hannah Hoech, a dadaist, when she built her collages from cut-outs, using strikingly contrasting images in order to open up peoples eyes and their minds.

Lost Icons is a study of iconic structures found in our contemporary times’ (the Madonna-type icon worship); using similar strategies like icons from throughout the millennia and the unique, ancient status symbols of Byzantine times.

The “holy” figures of today are the stars and celebrities that Fortune 500 companies use to sell their products. Their ad campaigns apply the same fundamental strategies once adopted by the great religions, namely exploiting every human’s fundamental longing to be happy, and deep-needed desire to be apart of something bigger, or at the least be connected to someone or something of import.

    - Doro Hofmann