VISEone approaches his art, and his life, with a restless desire to learn. As a kid growing up in Germany, he sketched on everything. He taught himself to draw by studying the sketchbooks of his late friend, mentor and collaborator, the cartoonist, Ralph Ferres. He learned to put his characters up on walls under the tutelage of a french graffiti artist.
With persistence, trial and error, he practiced digital illustration and learned 3D modeling. While all of this was happening, VISEone somehow found time to teach himself to record, arrange and produce music, becoming an acclaimed DJ in the process.
The constant throughout VISEone’s evolution as an artist was his friendship with Ferres. The pair collaborated on two resin figures, Sea Hunter and Sad Dragon. Produced by Patch Together, Sea Hunter (2008) and Sad Dragon (2009) sold out to collectors worldwide. In the spring of 2009, VISEone was chosen as the only German artist to participate in Disney’s Stitch Experiment 626 Art tour. His Cutie Monster custom lead to another project for Disney and was displayed at an art exhibition in Hong Kong. In 2010, his custom and production figures traveled to New York Comic-Con. That same year, VISEone was asked to create a mascot for designer toy store, Think Pink Celle. He taught himself ZBRUSH, and a limited edition resin figure was released at the end of 2010.
VISEone began creating his celebrated Comic Stripped series in 2010.
These mixed media works use a combination of collage, clay and acrylic paint to transform toys into sculptures. By collaging the figures with comic strips, VISEone frees the comics from their linear confines, and the resulting characters are rich with possibility. Always looking for the next challenge, VISEone focused on form and shape for his follow-up series. The Tubes series is a playful meditation on the origins of life, with dripping characters emerging from tubes of paint. Both The Comic Stripped series and Tubes series were embraced within the toy niche, as well as crossing over to influential design media like Notcot and Design You Trust.
When he’s not vigorously absorbing new knowledge, VISEone enjoys
cartoons, characters, comics, toys, amusement parks and the Disney classics. He believes his art is facilitated by indulging his inner child, and he finds inspiration everywhere. In August of 2011, VISEone will present his first solo show at Outland Designer Toys in Amsterdam. He is currently working on projects with Toy2R and Mimoco as well as more paintings, digital illustrations and an apparel line.
He lives and creates in southwest Germany.
Bio written by Jeremy Brautman | www.jeremyriad.com
