© Alasdair Jardine

In his painting, Wolf Hamm visualizes a pictorial universe that encompasses people's private relationships, mythical narratives, and socio-historical processes. He uses surreal alienation as a cipher to make complex connections in the real world visually comprehensible. The partly fantastic, narrative images thus become projection surfaces which Hamm uses to comment on the zeitgeist, the state of the world, and the human condition in general.

Born in Delmenhorst with Finnish roots, Hamm juxtaposes narration and myth as layers of meaning. The examination of the family as a social structure serves as a thematic starting point and source of inspiration. The family unity appears mysterious and tender, confronted in the same breath with primal fears of separation and loss. Hamm's work has something substantial – everything is about knowledge, truth, and freedom. His virtuoso painting becomes an instrument for commenting on the world and offering the viewer possible outlooks. With a critical look at our civilization, Hamm shows us the tragedy we are moving towards – sometimes in subtle tones, sometimes with a bang of the drum; but he also shows us which values are necessary to prevent us from an »apocalypse«. Hamm uses his painterly language to translate these relations into complex structures rich with symbolism, representation, and also abstraction, whereby overlapped and superimposed pictorial scenes characterize his work.

For many years, Hamm's preferred technique has been painting behind glass, as this technique renders highly brilliant colors, thus making the images desirable, so that they entice the viewer to deal with deep contents and questions. Furthermore, the technique of painting with acrylic paint behind acrylic glass necessitates a deeper level of knowledge in the artist’s working method – he constantly has to think of his motifs being mirrored and »seen from the other side«.