In 1992, he began referring to his division of canvas as
Introspective Naturalism to describe the representation of the inner and outer world, with the outer world in a realistic manner placed in the centre of the paintings’ surface and the inner world expressed as an abstract expression on the edges of the painting's surface. He wrote, “
Any type of perception of the external world to the limit of our body is always mixed with the reality which is kept in our inner self: the state of mind, memories, drowsiness, wakefulness, lived images, excitement after a discussion, sun blinding effect which makes immediate after images like photonegatives, flash-backs, experience of cold or extreme heat, etc. …”. Also in the 1990s, as a step forward in his research within the fusion of realism and abstraction, he developed the expression
Samlet, splittet virkelighed (United divided reality ). Examples of this expression are found throughout his work, and in 1999 that he physically split the surface of his paintings and added the relief dimension. From then on, he would break up the canvas, and the shape of most of his paintings would become irregular, emphasizing the fragmentation of our reality. The fragments would sometimes be totally separated, leaving irregular spaces between them. His technique is to use acrylics and oil on canvas on relief wooden structures. The parallelism with music and musical concepts is always present in his work – a painterly way of conceiving “theme with variations”. Like in
Edward Elgar’s
Enigma Variations’s, the relief structures contain many different visions of the same original theme which itself is never exposed. Psychoanalysis is another important inspiration and reference. The role of the unconscious within the perception, and how the process of improvisation and composition is always related to how the mind works
metaphorically and
metonymically is present throughout his work. Also, the way memory stores and distributes perception layer upon layer is like the transparent layers of paint used. The investigations of
Sigmund Freud and
Jacques Lacan have left strong marks in his art, i.e. his painting “Wo Es war, soll Ich werden”. Simultaneous perception has been a theme of his latest exhibitions , whereby he emphasizes the idea that the complementarity of different emotional states is the way to get on more qualified terms with inner and outer reality. This is one of the themes in
Else Marie Bukdahl's text “Flerhed af blikke” (Plurality of views), referring to
Niels Bohr’s theories. As a consequence and evolution of the previous expressions, Lars Physant is working with the concepts
Contrapunctual Realism and
Multiversal Realism, focusing on the visual perception itself. It is intended as a parallel expression in pure painting to that of
Peter Greenaway within cinema and video art, which assumes the fragmentation and complexity of the 21st century as a challenge to artistic articulation. Contrapunctual Realism refers partly to the influence from the Canadian pianist
Glenn Gould’s working methods and his way of conceiving interpretation.
Portrait Painting Physant applies his personal concepts also in his portrait paintings, which always have held a central place within his work. He started drawing portraits from live models when he was 13 years old. In the portrait he seeks the humanity and the unconscious in order to compose the total work. Physant has portrayed Danish and international musicians, writers business people and members of the Danish royal family. In 2014, he portrayed H.R.H. Princess Benedikte of Denmark in the work Multiversal Realisme i 12 faser (Multiversal realism in 12 phases) for her 70th birthday. In 2015 the Danish National Museum commissioned Physant to paint a portrait of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for her 75th birthday. The painting entitled
At skabe billeder af billeder (Creating images from images) was presented on April 14, 2015. The title refers to the queen's own works of art and to Physant's own artistic project. After the revelation of the portrait, a booklet exclusively about the portrait and its symbolism and references to Danish history was published. Among the contributors of the booklet, which is named after the painting, are the director of the National Museum of Denmark,
Per Kristian Madsen, and specialist of portraits,
Thyge Christian Fønss-Lundberg. In 2016 Physant travelled to Greece with the commission to paint the double portrait of. King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie. The title of the portrait, "Den dobbelte Odysse. Vindens løfte" (The double Odyssey. The Promise of the Wind) is inspired by Ulysses who had been separated from his beloved Ithaka for 20 years, while the royal couple were separated from their country for almost 47 years. As well as his other works, Physant paints his portraits as fragmented image on relief wooden structures which cannot be framed; a technique that is unique to the genre.
Self-portrait Lars Physant's self-portrait, commissioned by Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum, is an interpretation in painting of the Four Temperaments expressed in
Carl Nielsen's Second Symphony Opus 16. The portrait consists of four paintings that constitute a single portrait. Each of the four works represents one of the classic temperaments; choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine. Each of the four parts is further divided into four parts of the portrayed temperament. About this portrait, Physant writes:
"From a metaphorical point of view, we could imagine that the sixteen faces making up this self-portrait are complimentary variations on the idea of a SELF-PORTRAIT, a FACE or the TRUTH. We are invited to face the truth of this face and thereby (possible) get a little closer to it." Physant has developed this synaesthetic method further, painting the portraits of Rafael Argullol, Klaus Rifbjerg, Michala Petri, and other, which were included in the exhibition "SERENDIPIA. Kosmos, Polykosmos, Psykokosmos" at Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Denmark in 2017–2018, and were shown expressly accompanied with Carl Nielsen's music, proving the full experience both visual and audio. == Honorary awards ==