The value of a painting lies in the strength and clarity of the artist's vision, and the competence with which he is able to present it. The painter does not attempt to faithfully depict all the richness and complexities of our three-dimensional visual world, he does not want to paint as we normally see it. What he does instead is to present us a different view of the world – his view. 

When the artist succeeds in his task, we see his world â – and find from seeing it that we are surprised and enlightened.

When one first sees Niels Gunkelmann's paintings, it seems as if he has created not one but two worlds: one of dramatic portraits, one of surreal landscapes.

Niels' portraits are dark, yet ironic. Though they embody a sense of horror, they are also tongue-in-cheek. The faces look back at us, mock us, because they show emotion – but they are play-acting. The strong lighting that dramatises the appearance of each character heightens a sense of stage.

Niels is fascinated by theatre and film. His partner, Annette, is an actress. Through her he became aware of many films in the film world, including those of director Werner Schroeter, whos work has been a vast inspiration. 

Niels says that Werner explained to him how he expresses basic human instincts such as love, death, vanity, jealousy, hatred and revenge on stage and in his films. Schroeter also taught him about the importance of light effects on the actors, to underline their verbal expression. Niels expresses something similar in his paintings, concentrates on bringing a glow to the skin, as appearing under the bright lights of the stage. This is why he chooses many scenes from the movies as his subjects. 

Niels had first come to India in 1986, since then is spending six months of the year in Goa. India made an overwhelming impression on him, immediately reflected in his technique, style and subjects. 

He says he remembers seeing The Jungle Book as a child, wondering how such a world could exist. When he came to India, he was very much impressed by the colours and variety of the landscape. Over the years he has painted a lot in ink, watercolours and gauge, before moving to oil.

In his landscapes, Niels catches the sharp light effects and the hard shadows. His pictures have been influenced by his affinity with comics.

Niels Gunkelmann was born on July 9th in Sylt, where he now lives six months of the year. He has been traveling extensively in Europe, North Africa, and India.

He has been drawing and painting as far back as he can remember, and is self taught. He likes to experiment with media, thus has created "Plastic-Follies", pictures using acrylic and wall paint on acrylic glass; a technique similar to glass painting. He sulpts in thermacole and wax stone.

Niels enjoys playing the trumpet and making films. He uses puppets which he makes himself for stop motion films, and he makes short abstract films with his friends. With his partner Annette Tirier, he made the short film "A day in the life of a Toddy-Tapper", filmed in Palolem, Goa.