Reimagining the Great Horned Owl
From the outset, Berlin-based artist Christoph Niemann knew that his depiction of a Great Horned Owl wouldnt be naturalistic like John James 勛圖窪蹋s. That owl that he drew is absolutely perfect, he says. Theres nothing to add. Mulling at his desk, he noticed a pair of gently used paintbrushes. What sold him werent their bristles, evocative of the birds signature earlike tufts. Theyre almost too obvious, Niemann says. Rather, he fancied the effect of crossing the tools. Theres something interesting that justi麍es looking at it for a little bit longer.
Just below the nexus, for instance, the semblance of a beak emerges from a wee triangular shadow. Using a highly pigmented, fade-resistant ink (he prefers the Rohrer & Klingner brand), Niemann drew several renditions of the common North American species before its posture felt right. He then enlivened the piece with artful desk-lamp lighting. The 麍nal collage 麍nds the sweet spot where, as the poet Rainer Maria Rilke once observed, nothing is trivial or super麍uous. The whole idea is for a viewer to look at this and to feel, This makes total sense, Niemann says. Add or subtract one element, and the whole thing comes toppling down.
This story originally ran in the Fall 2018 issue of 勛圖窪蹋. To receive our print magazine,