Daniel C. Müller "cosmic Nr. 6", 2026

Artist: Daniel C. Müller

Work(s) / Title: «cosmic»

Technique / Materials: Woodcut and watercolour on multilayer panel (limewood and poplar)

Dimensions: 21 × 30 cm

Edition: 8 unique pieces featuring 2 motifs, numbered and signed (0 AP, 0 BAT)

Sale price: CHF 380.00 per piece, excluding VAT (unframed)

Packaging: Boxes

Year of creation: 2026

Artist Statement

Darkness, chaos, and intensity are concepts that evoke strong reactions. In my work, the drawn line is the vehicle for emotions. Contour-like and approaching reality, the line simultaneously loses itself and becomes independent. It inevitably leads to a rupture between fact and fiction. The line is the starting point of my work and the common denominator across the various media I use, including drawing, monotype, woodcut, and installation art.

In appropriating and adapting traditional techniques, such as woodcut, I find access to the past and build a bridge to the present. Initially used in religious contexts and in book printing, woodcut lends itself to expressive and complex visual worlds. The removal of material from the printing plate contrasts with the application of paint in painting. I combine the negation of the material with a radically subjective gaze upon uncanny, unlocatable landscapes and traces of human abysses.

Having grown up amidst mountains, nature holds a special place in my work. I am interested in depictions of the environment as a psychological and physical refuge and place of retreat. I explore the potential of solitary worlds, in which I play out longings and threatening scenarios. In doing so, I combine dystopian-futuristic forms with floral patterns and tendril ornaments reminiscent of past art styles.

A recurring theme in my work is sexuality in queer subcultures. I depict an anonymous world existing in the shadows of mainstream culture, where sexual acts are performed between pleasure and pain. At the same time, I analyse rituals of hypermasculinity and gay body worship that lead to new constraints and stereotypes.

Biography

Daniel C. Müller (born 1994) lives and works in Zurich and Lucerne. In his work, he explores the challenges of the present and the past. He addresses these themes through woodcuts, monotypes and drawings. The drawn line is always the starting point for his work. He studied at the ZHdK and completed a Master of Fine Arts at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. In 2025, he held a solo exhibition at the sothu salon Zurich, and in 2018 at Plymouth Rock Zurich. His works have been featured in group exhibitions in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. Works are held in the collections of the Canton of Solothurn and the Kunsthaus Grenchen.