At his first exhibition at Maus Habitos, the german artist Stephane Leonard will show a series of paintings created during his time of residency in Porto.

On view will be a series of 6 paintings / drawings on canvas. The drawings are like scratches on a surface, short and to the point notes of lengthy observations of processes, things and objects changing over time. A snapshot of a permanently organism.

A Trauma is usually associated with a negative experience and in medical terms even with something caused by physical harm. However following a trauma can be a so-called post-traumatic growth, which refers to positive psychological changes as a result of a life changing experience.

Stephane´s work can be described as some kind of mental and physical archeology, whereby his hands seismographically (cautiously detecting) take notes of internal processes. With drawn lines he is capturing what appears to be movements, moments or vague objects either at their origin or in the moment of decay. Searching for their metaphysic appearance or form, gaining an understanding for the invisible traces all things leave behind, Stephane draws his inspiration from studying processes like corrosion, erosion, weathered walls and buildings, cracks in the concrete, nature re-growing, people aging.... The lines in his drawings drift apart, form a net, or structure, compress into a cloud of colour, vibrate, glow and fade. When lines cross, the past and the present meet for one brief moment closing a circle, making a from complete.

Working in Porto where old and new, a trauma of the past and a positive future ahead, where beauty and decay are so overly present and close together has led to a series of works on canvas in which we find fragments of spray-painted lines, blurred and faded clouds of colour embedded in the natural grey of the untreated canvas. The Trauma in Stephane´s work is the absolute wish to comprehend and explain the world with the help of the drawn lines, focussing on natural dynamics and the positive effects by choosing to constantly move forward. Finding beauty in decay and momentariness, accepting the ephemerality of the moment, his drawings become snapshots of fragments of a long-lasting day-dream.

Dream, in german is called: Traum.