Fine Art student Simon Surjasentana shows everyday life in an intensive care unit in his paintings

Simon Surjasentana's career stages are anything but straightforward. At first, he completed an apprenticeship as a commercial assistant, but quickly realised that his everyday working life would not make him happy in the long run. So he took a »time out« and did a voluntary social year in hospital. When he came into contact with a patient requiring artificial respiration, he decided to continue his training as a nurse.

It is precisely this circumstance that is now attracting the attention given to Surjasentana. Because it didn't stop at the nursing profession either. In 2016, the artist began his fine arts studies at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, but did not give up his job as a nurse and continues to work in the intensive care unit. »I have been taking photos of my everyday life on the ward for a long time and process the impressions in my paintings,« Surjasentana describes. »I have been working like this for quite some time. The fact that my paintings have a greater relevance now that we are living in times of the pandemic naturally pleases me, even though there are tragic fates behind the scenes captured.«