Surrounded by the majestic mountains of the Austrian Alps
Simon Hafele was born in 1985 in the western part of Tyrol where he found
inspiration in the picturesque beauty of the fundamental elements of nature. As
a child he couldn’t keep his hands off crayons, a passion which he continued to
pursue while attending Elbigenalp, a carving school with a 4 year duration.
There he could explore his artistic pathway, causing Simon to seal his own
fate—he would follow the calling of his soul and devote his life to art. After
having travelled to India, Cambodia, Nepal, Thailand and Laos for longer
periods of time, Simon brought back the kind of inspiration, which would turn
out to be vital for his evolving. Numerous experiments with different types of
colours and light preceded his unique style—a visual language that translates
the in-between, the transcendental experience of (yet) unexisting worlds into
intriguing paintings with bright and often fluorescent colours, leaving behind
an unmistakable trace of recognition. Simons »Visionary Psychedelic Art« is a
practice, where the artist reveals his soul and shares his insights of a
nonmundane reality. In Simons paintings the vivid colours reflect the artists
desire for colourfulness in all aspects of life, which he then transforms into
an invitation for the viewer to access alternate realms and otherworldly
dimensions. The conundrum of his breath-taking work reveals itself by
surrendering to feeling: like in life—love, the mother of all emotions— is all
spectators need to decode the overwhelming sceneries in Simons paintings. His
works consume the viewer, offering a tender relationship between artwork and
spectator, where they can lose themselves, wander in multiverses and
simultaneously float back to the present moment, only to find more pathways
down to the essence of life: truth. 

Portfolio: