The Indebted Romantic Stephen Klenner-Otto (Trans. By Sheila Dickson)
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Broadly speaking, I consider myself to be indebted to the tradition of Romanticism. Romanticism, with its imaginary and emotional worlds, offers me the themes I express in the form of etchings. I am attracted in particular to the eccentric figures described by writers such as Jean Paul and E.T.A. Hoffmann, and, in a recent project, Achim von Arnim. In addition, my interest in literature is articulated through my portraits of various writers. To an equal degree, the scenes I create come alive through my observation of nature, which gives me background information and indications of events to come. As an artist, I can render natural laws out of force, for example when I make ships fly. For this reason, the drawing with the title ‘Elements’ is one of my key etchings, as it contains the fundamental elements of what I am interested in, namely fire, water, earth and air.
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