Dennis Schikora

Biography

Dennis Schikora (b. 2000, Western Germany) creates oil paintings that explore impermanence and vulnerability. Incorporating unconventional materials like dust, dirt, and organic debris, he transforms these overlooked substances into meditations on fragility. His process-driven approach prioritizes experimentation over polished results, embracing the raw, evolving nature of his work. Schikora’s canvases reveal layers of overpainting, erasure, and bold gestures, juxtaposed with subtle washes of color. These textures reflect themes of decay and resilience, mirroring the contradictions of human experience. By allowing materials to shift, crack, or settle organically, he highlights their inherent transience, framing instability as a source of creative potential rather than flaw. This practice stems from his early fascination with avant-garde artisanal fashion—a realm that deconstructs conventional garment creation through experimental techniques. In this approach, failure, asymmetry, flaws, and natural irregularities are celebrated, even when they render the pieces unwearable and strip them of their traditional function. Schikora is deeply connected to this unique notion of beauty, finding inspiration in imperfection as a powerful catalyst for artistic expression. Central to his practice is a focus on process. Each piece evolves through intuitive decisions and material interactions, resulting in surfaces marked by unevenness and fragmentation. For Schikora, art is less about resolution than about probing the unresolved; how ephemerality binds us to the visceral, messy act of being alive. Rather than seeking closure, his work invites viewers to engage with the traces of time and the beauty of imperfection. His work bridges abstraction and lived experience, using gritty, tactile elements to connect with the raw reality of existence. Through this lens, Schikora questions how we navigate creation in a fleeting world—a world struck by the ideal of conventional beauty, where individuality dies as it melts together in an ever accelerating tide of homogenization, suggesting that significance can emerge from the provisional and the ephemeral.