Sascha Brylla

Sascha Brylla works in tempera and oil on canvas with a subtractive technique related to sgraffito, the method used on plaster façades and ceramics. He applies monochrome layers of paint and carves into them with a knife, working the motif out of the material in a process he places on the edge of painting, closer to sculptural removal than to building up an image. The scratched lines leave relief-like surfaces with visible traces of the process, and the method demands both play and precision, since a slip cannot be undone. His ornamental compositions move between figuration and abstraction: from a distance they read as dense patterns of leaves and flowers recalling William Morris wallpapers and Japanese woodblock prints, while up close his recent series shows male dogs trapped, defeated or straining against the overgrowth. Through such metaphorical scenes Brylla questions idealised masculinity and machismo and their links to violence, sexuality and consent.