In Conversation with Sebastian Haas

KALI Gallery: Do you remember your first encounter with art and design?
Sebastian Haas: My earliest conscious encounter with art dates back to third or fourth grade. At the time, I copied a skier from a free newspaper and received a compliment from my crush for it. Looking back, it was probably the first moment I experienced recognition from others for something I had created myself—an experience that has stayed with me to this day.

KG: How does your painting process unfold?

SH: A central aspect of my process is that I cannot directly see what I am doing while painting. Since I paint on the back of a glass pane, the result only becomes visible when I turn the piece around. This circumstance prevents a sterile or overly planned composition. Instead, the works develop a rawness and spontaneity that I consider important in today’s digitalized image world.

At the moment, I am working on a series based on image ideas generated by artificial intelligence. I interpret these results painterly and place them within the context of a traditional artistic practice. Just as landscape painters once sought their motifs outdoors, I use contemporary technologies to find imagination and to allow current developments to flow into painting.

KG: Why are you fascinated by glass and reverse glass painting?
SH: We live in the “millennium of glass.” Glass is a central material in our society, not only because of its functionality but also because of its transparency and reflectivity. In reverse glass painting, color and light enter into a unique relationship, as the image is viewed from the front while painted from the back and is always influenced by its surroundings—by lighting conditions, reflections, or the position of the viewer.

Working with glass also allows me a degree of spontaneity and speed that is often not possible on canvas. At the same time, an element of unpredictability remains: only when I turn the pane around does what I have created become visible. This dialogue with the material—between intention and result—is essential to me.

KG: How does the material of glass influence the relationship between the work and the viewer?
SH: Many of my works play with the interaction between viewer and surface. Through its reflection and transparency, glass enables a confrontation with one’s own mirror image, which becomes part of the artwork. In freestanding or distorted pieces, light refractions intensify this effect, causing the space, the viewers, and the work to merge. This fragility—both in the physical material and in the image construction—demands a particular attentiveness and responsibility toward the work.

KG: What role do format and size play in your work?
SH: I see it as a challenge to master both small-scale and large-format works. It is about remaining flexible and choosing formats that do not conform to classical norms. Unusual sizes or proportions, in particular, can help rethink and expand the space for painting and bring reverse glass painting into the physical space. I am interested in how a work can assert itself in atypical contexts or spaces and what kind of dynamic it unfolds as a result.

KG: How do you know when a work is finished?
SH: The question of when a painting is complete is probably one of the greatest challenges for any artist. In my practice, there is a clear point: as soon as the entire glass surface is covered, I consider the work finished. If I were to make further changes afterward, I would risk shifting the painting toward illustration—something I consciously want to avoid. The radical final gesture is part of my working process.

KG: What do you hope to convey with your works in an exhibition?
SH: My aim is for my works to be perceived as a position that engages with digital surfaces, the complexity of our world, and current societal issues. At the same time, I want to create space for introspection and self-reflection, as well as to convey joy in painting as a medium. By combining reverse glass painting with sculptural elements and consciously employing reflection and transparency, I seek a balance between past, present, and future. This interplay opens up new perspectives that direct viewers not only toward the works themselves but also toward their own perception. A central concern of my practice is to make visible the interfaces between real and digital worlds. The works reflect themes such as the impact of digital culture on our self-perception, social relationships, and power structures. In this engagement, I create works that capture the spirit of the times while simultaneously asserting an independent artistic position.