Rückenfiguren distills the paradox of modern intimacy: the illusion of closeness within a world increasingly defined by disconnection. Two figures sit side by side in a dimly lit café, their backs turned to the viewer, echoing the Romantic device of Caspar David Friedrich’s Rückenfigur while transposing it into a contemporary urban setting. Warm interior tones meet the cool blues of the city beyond, divided by the fragile threshold of glass – a boundary both transparent and impenetrable. The woman’s earphones, barely noticeable at first glance, become quiet emblems of solitude amid proximity. The reflective surface of the table anchors the composition, its emptiness resonating with quiet absence. With cinematic light and painterly restraint, Rückenfiguren becomes a meditation on distance, perception, and the fleeting, often unrealised potential for human connection in the modern age. Rückenfiguren was amongst the winners of the Boomer Art Prize in 2025, and is exhibited on Artsy.net.
