Daniel Heinz

Between presence and brushstroke

My painting began with a longing: to paint animals so that their presence fills the space. Not as decoration, not as symbols—but as counterparts.

As a child, I watched my mother paint porcelain. Her steady hand, applying layer upon layer of paint, taught me patience. Then I saw Aivazovsky's "The Ninth Wave" and understood that color not only describes, but breathes . These two influences—the precision of the glaze and the power of the wave—still form the foundation of my work today.

After completing my training as a glass and porcelain painter (2019, Kaufbeuren), I began transferring this centuries-old technique to canvas. I work in layers: glazes, splashes, and patches of color. Each animal emerges from the tension between control and chance—precisely detailed in the eye, explosive in the background.

My paintings don't depict domesticated stuffed animals. They depict bears, wolves, birds of prey—creatures with a will of their own. I paint them as I see them: as partners in dialogue, not as projection surfaces for human romanticism. The animals in my paintings look back.

Today, my works hang in collections from New York to Seoul, from Berlin to Rome. I was invited to South Korea (Haegeumgang Theme Museum, 2023–2025) and exhibited at the Unknown Vibes Art Fair in Seoul. But the most important thing doesn't happen in galleries—it happens when someone stops in front of one of my paintings and feels: Someone is here.

I work in my family studio in Leipzig. Each painting is an attempt to create closeness—not through cuteness, but through truthfulness.

danh1z – Art that does not appease, but encounters.