In Ashley Hans Scheirl’s paintings, bodies, taboos, and materiality merge into a sensually intense composition. In Hochdekorierte* Maler*in (2024), a yellowish fountain shoots from the fingers of an enigmatic figure, oscillating between a fountain, a bouquet of flowers, and an obscene stream of urine. Amidst this spray of mist, a fragmented face begins to emerge. There is no forehead, but instead prominent cheeks, a pronounced chin, and piercing eyes that return the gaze like a mask. While the face almost resembles a graphic advertising motif, the body beneath it lacks definition. It is a bulbous, thickly modeled figure, doughy and indistinct.

Scheirl works with acrylic paints—artificial, plasticized materials—and uses the illusion of spraying, dripping, and pouring to make organic bodily processes visible. The applied particles appear damp, like liquids or like filth. The zones of white, black, and gray create swellings and ambiguities and highlight the contrast between purity and filth, moral order and taboo. 

A dominant motif is the yellowish, stencil-like silhouette with an egg-shaped cutout. It is thrust into the pictorial space like a stage backdrop, casting a shadow, and its outermost element can be interpreted as a kissing mouth or as aroused labia. Hanging from the bottom edge is a golden chain with a paintbrush that appears tangibly naturalistic and serves both as an artistic tool and as a symbol of flagging potency. It forms an obvious counterpart to the lively and feminine form of the stencil. 

Thomas D. Trummer, 2025

(AI generated translation)