Deep Waters was inspired by the quiet beauty of the Eselsburger Tal in southern Germany, where the Brenz moves gently through an idyllic landscape of water, rock and trees.

Yet places that appear peaceful often carry more than their surface reveals. Not even a century ago, people lived in simple barracks among the rocks, likely because there was nowhere else for them to belong. Their lives, struggles and losses have almost disappeared from visible memory.

In this painting, the surrounding landscape is layered with unreadable writing: fragments of stories that remain present, but can no longer be clearly accessed. The still water becomes a place of reflection, but also of depth, silence and uncertainty. It asks what a landscape may hold beneath its calm surface.