Humanity and human vulnerability are central themes in Xenia Hausner’s work. Despite being rendered in bold colours and expressionistic brushstrokes, Hausner’s subjects are imbued with feelings of both loneliness and desire, heightened by their close-up compositions.
Hausner’s background in theatre permeates her large-scale, enigmatic paintings. Predominantly painting women, Hausner stages the figures in her frames in theatrical compositions–placing them in contrived positions, with figures often meeting the viewer’s gaze.
Working from snapshots of daily life, Hausner’s paintings draw from large-scale photographs often taken in studio. Various objects such as bicycles or car components stand in as stage props in her theatrical scenes, as seen in Das blinde Geschehen and Hotel Shanghai (both 2010).
