PROFILE: Lothar Osterburg
Lothar Osterburg is known as an artist, master printer and an expert in the photogravure technique. He lives in the larger New York City area. An overlooked aspect of his many talents, is being able to build from scratch, his own interpretations of reality. He designs and builds small and large scale models that approximate real and imagined architectural spaces. They can be iconic train stations and libaries or places he read about in literature works.
He then proceeds by staging several actions within those settings, that he photographs. His parallel activities of building sets and eventually printing them as photogravures or etchings, result in prints containing scenes with surreal and at times idealized versions of reality.
Books, Libraries, Cities, and locations are some of Osterburg’s beloved themes. In addition, fictional places have been important to him.
Among his influences, are the writings of W.G. Sebald and stream of consciousness narratives. The writer’s detailed descriptions of places, and observations of the natural world and history - find a place in Lothar’s imagination and artmaking process, by using his own unique devices.
This summer, he continues producing new work, in line with his subjects of Museums, Collections, and Archives.
View and purchase his work here