Fremde Federn 2016

Eckart Hahn painted this bird with an altered beak – that’s ‘Fremde Federn’ in German, meaning ‘borrowed plumes’ or ‘strange feathers’. What strikes me first is the dark, brooding presence of the crow. It's painted with incredible detail, each feather distinct, built up with layers of thin glazes, but then, bam! That beak. It’s like a painter’s palette, those vibrant rainbow hues, abruptly cut off by what looks like masking tape. The tape has this soft, matte texture against the gloss of the painted beak. I wonder if Hahn is commenting on the artifice of painting itself, or perhaps on how we try to manipulate and control nature. Look at the way the rainbow colors end so abruptly. It reminds me of Magritte, that sense of surreal juxtaposition and playful questioning. It’s not about answers, but about opening up possibilities.