Kai Hoge explores the relationship between colour, emotion and composition, drawing inspiration from the colour harmonies of everyday life. Through layered, translucent paint, he creates depth and balance while moving between minimalist landscapes and abstraction. His current work examines the tension between graphic precision and painterly expression, asking how order and chaos can coexist within a single image.
What role do open calls play for you as an artist, and what motivates you to introduce your work to new audiences in this way?
Open calls are a fantastic opportunity to reach new audiences and show your work to more than just a handful of people in your studio. Especially if you are not yet well connected in the art world, I see them as the best way to achieve greater visibility for your artistic practice.
As the winner of the open call, you will be presenting your work at the Discovery Art Fair in Frankfurt from 29 October to 1 November. What does it mean to you to show your paintings at an art fair and engage with a new audience?
Winning this open call means a great deal to me. I see it as a major achievement, and it gives me fresh momentum on my artistic journey. This will be the first art fair I have taken part in, and I am looking forward to showing my paintings to a much wider audience than I would normally reach in my studio or at a small exhibition. Of course, there is the internet, Instagram and so on, but nothing compares to seeing real artworks and meeting a live audience. I am also looking forward to talking to other artists. The art market is not easy to navigate, and I am sure this will be a very good starting point. Time to leave the studio and get some fresh air!
Colour is your central artistic tool. How do you develop the interplay of colour harmony, contrast and emotion until a composition finds its own balance?
We are surrounded by colours and colour harmonies in our everyday lives. Some of them evoke something within us. Take my grandmother Erna’s old blouse, for example: wonderful green and vivid purple. I try to recreate something of that combination – the colours and the feeling they evoke. The balance is right only when the feeling is right.
Your translucent layers create depth and fluid transitions between contrasts. What role do rubbing and layering paint play in your process, and when do you decide that a painting is finished?
When we talk about colour, subtle nuances can sometimes make all the difference. I gradually build up the key areas of a painting through overlapping layers of colour. If the result still does not feel harmonious, I add another translucent layer until it feels right. A painting is never truly finished as long as it remains in my studio.
Your work moves between minimalist landscape painting and abstraction. What new boundaries would you like to explore in your painting, and what questions are currently occupying you?
In my current work, I am exploring two opposing approaches: highly graphic representation on the one hand and a more painterly approach on the other. I am interested in whether both can coexist in a single painting without creating too much dissonance. Can order and chaos be reconciled? How much chaos can order tolerate, and vice versa? Is a horizontal line on a blank sheet of paper already a landscape? Some might say it depends on the line.