German artist Beate Axmann’s concept "Sichtverrückt" translates roughly to gaze, shifted. It is a directive to look not once, not twice, but thrice, even four times. In today's atmosphere of rising extremism and polemics (in Germany and abroad), it is critical to shift one’s gaze––to look at issues from multiple angles. Sichtverrückt is the overarching theme that Beate Axmann has used for the whole of her artistic work since 2018.

Axmann is from the Black Forest region of Germany and works in acrylic paint on canvas, paper, and wood as well as ink on paper. Her subjects include people (especially women), nature, the Black Forest, and the continuum of human cultures that she greets on her travels. Her works are described as deep and powerful, untamed, original and alive; in a specific way, figurative and abstract with a tendency towards symbolism. Axmann has had group and solo exhibitions in Germany, the United States, Austria, China, Turkey and Kosovo. Collaboration and cooperation with others are centrally important to Axmann.

Photo credit: Raissa Axmann