My studio is my pocket, and it is the landscape I currently inhabit.
What I do in one sentence: Wherever I am, a landscape of people and things unfolds before me. I find it difficult to establish a hierarchy between the two, because things are just as animated — only differently, and perhaps more mysteriously for us humans.
Why I didn’t get a proper 9–5 job: My parents trusted me. The path felt natural, and it has remained beautiful to this day.
An artwork I would get accomplished if space, time and money were abundant: Wherever I am, to have the chance to read traces and to leave traces. Traces as large as houses and rooms, but also as small as piles and puddles.
Why I do what I do: Out of love and passion, in accordance with beings and in relation to them.
Artists I have on my watch list (and why): Amelie von Wulffen and Lucio Auri, Lisa Danulat, Kathi Maurer, Sandra Hüller, and Peter Kastenmüller.
I am afraid of old-age poverty.
I know that a piece is finished when I feel it. Even if starting again feels good — after years or after minutes. At some point, there is a clear realization of whether it has aged well and whether I stopped at the right moment. It is a game that remains exciting for a very long time. Perhaps I am not finished with anything yet.
How do I imagine my life in old age: I have respect for young people, for children, and for everything that will come after me. That is what I look forward to. Until then, things continue — perhaps always getting better.
What role does work play in my life as I grow older: Not a particularly large one. Just being a bit careful when lifting heavy objects like stones or overpacked boxes. I misread the question, but that doesn’t matter — my answer still explains it in its own way.
How I want to be buried resp. words I want to be written on my tombstone: There is a landscape in the Alps — a so-called stone garden in the Maurertal in South Tyrol. It would be beautiful to rest there, without words.
Michael Graessner, Villa Massimo Fellow 2026. Studio visit in Michael’s studio at Villa Serpentara in Olevano Romano.
My studio is my pocket, and it is the landscape I currently inhabit.
What I do in one sentence: Wherever I am, a landscape of people and things unfolds before me. I find it difficult to establish a hierarchy between the two, because things are just as animated — only differently, and perhaps more mysteriously for us humans.
Why I didn’t get a proper 9–5 job: My parents trusted me. The path felt natural, and it has remained beautiful to this day.
An artwork I would get accomplished if space, time and money were abundant: Wherever I am, to have the chance to read traces and to leave traces. Traces as large as houses and rooms, but also as small as piles and puddles.
Why I do what I do: Out of love and passion, in accordance with beings and in relation to them.
Artists I have on my watch list (and why): Amelie von Wulffen and Lucio Auri, Lisa Danulat, Kathi Maurer, Sandra Hüller, and Peter Kastenmüller.
I am afraid of old-age poverty.
I know that a piece is finished when I feel it. Even if starting again feels good — after years or after minutes. At some point, there is a clear realization of whether it has aged well and whether I stopped at the right moment. It is a game that remains exciting for a very long time. Perhaps I am not finished with anything yet.
How do I imagine my life in old age: I have respect for young people, for children, and for everything that will come after me. That is what I look forward to. Until then, things continue — perhaps always getting better.
What role does work play in my life as I grow older: Not a particularly large one. Just being a bit careful when lifting heavy objects like stones or overpacked boxes. I misread the question, but that doesn’t matter — my answer still explains it in its own way.
How I want to be buried resp. words I want to be written on my tombstone: There is a landscape in the Alps — a so-called stone garden in the Maurertal in South Tyrol. It would be beautiful to rest there, without words.
Michael Graessner, Villa Massimo Fellow 2026. Studio visit in Michael’s studio at Villa Serpentara in Olevano Romano.