Armin Mühsam

Artist Statement

My work focuses on the changing and changed landscape, particularly the face of “nature” as
altered by human intervention. I have come to the conclusion that technology (read: western
man) writes or draws into a landscape just like an artist would draw on a sheet of paper –
through and with technology forms are assembled and manipulated to compose a kind of
environment that suits man’s needs. These landscapes are completely and deliberately
artificial, consisting of basic parts drawn from a pool of man-made elements such as dikes,
tunnels, excavation holes, roads, fences, walls, etc.

Short Bio

Armin Mühsam was born Dec. 29, 1968 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the city that is called
Klausenburg by its German inhabitants. In 1977, his family moved to Germany and settled in
Munich. After completing his undergraduate studies at the College of Applied Sciences in
Munich, Mühsam continued his art education at Montana State University, Bozeman,
receiving his MFA in 1997. Following a 3-year-stay in Munich, Mühsam relocated to the
United States, where he is currently associate professor of painting and drawing at
Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri.