German contemporary artist Eva Zucker has completed her latest painting series, Menschsein in Schichten (Being Human in Layers), and released four key works from the project on her official website. The series examines human existence as a multilayered psychological and emotional state, shaped by reflection, contradiction and lived experience.

According to the artist, the works emerged alongside an ongoing inner dialogue composed of thoughts, sensations and questions that accompanied the creative process. Rather than serving as explanations, Zucker’s accompanying texts function as quiet reflections that run parallel to the images. “Words do not form the foundation of the paintings,” she notes, “they accompany them softly.” Meaning, in this sense, is not fixed but realized through the viewer’s encounter with the work.

The four newly released paintings—Trust, Nackt im Sein (Naked in Being), Sightless Vision, and Latenz—each focus on a specific human state suspended in transition.

Trust depicts a child set against stark contrasts of light and dark, evoking a primordial form of trust that has not yet been tested. Rather than naïveté, the work suggests an inner balance sustained by the coexistence of darkness and light. Zucker describes it as a quiet image that “holds,” functioning like an inner anchor.

Nackt im Sein portrays two figures in close proximity without physical intervention. The work addresses vulnerability—both physical and emotional—by redefining care not as action, but as presence. Here, nudity is presented not as provocation, but as truth: a moment in which social roles and protective layers fall away, revealing an unguarded human condition.

In Sightless Vision, the viewer is placed in an ego perspective. One hand tightly grips a cup, symbolizing control, while the other loosely holds a brush. The tension between holding on and letting go unfolds in a moment of decision, as white paint touches skin for the first time. The color white oscillates between concealment and revelation, standing for acceptance, forgiveness and the acknowledgment of imperfection.

Latenz deliberately unsettles visual balance. Cropped features, uneven posture and contrasting bodily textures provoke an impulse to correct or optimize the image. Zucker uses this discomfort to reflect on humanity’s habitual drive toward perfection—and how that impulse may soften with age. The inflated balloon and aging body share the same air, suggesting that while the body weakens, the inner self continues to mature.

Throughout the series, Zucker approaches human identity not as a fixed role but as an accumulation of layers—some supportive, others burdensome. She emphasizes that humans are simultaneously leaders and seekers, advisers and doubters, thinkers and caregivers. These are not professions, she argues, but human dimensions. Rather than resolving such contradictions, Menschsein in Schichten leaves them open, valuing questions over definitive answers.

The artist maintains that her works remain in motion even for herself, revealing new meanings over time and distance. In this sense, the series resists closure, continuing to evolve alongside life itself. The paintings, she says, remain free—so too does the viewer.

Meanwhile, Eva Zucker has also announced her participation in Kunst Offen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a major open-studio art event in Germany. The event will take place on May 23–24, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at Schmetterlingshaus e. V. in Waren (Müritz), located in the Mecklenburg Lake District. The participation offers visitors an opportunity to encounter the artist’s work and creative environment directly, extending the dialogue initiated by Menschsein in Schichten into a physical, experiential space.

The full series and related texts are available on the artist’s official website.

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Jason Yim yimjongho1969@gmail.com