About me
Jost Sagasser M.A.
My path to L-art and the Fornos
Perhaps the inner journey is the most important one in life. I now believe this to be true, and mine has made me a disciplined and alert person. My upbringing by my parents laid the fertile foundation for this.
My mother read, among other things, Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception." She was interested in and fascinated by transcendent experiences. Both of them were great travelers. In 1971, they drove me from Dortmund to Kathmandu, Nepal, in a VW Beetle. During the six-week trip before I started school in my hometown of Dortmund that summer, the highlight for me was seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. I am deeply grateful to my parents for this experience and for the beginning of a path that the trip initiated. After moving out of my parents' house early in 1981 and extensive drug experimentation, including with LSD, I had several stays in psychiatric hospitals during the 1980s and 90s. These experiences subsequently required me to confront myself and my family history. I participated in numerous systemic therapy sessions with Gabriele Maria Hoppe in Weibersbrunn and with Dr. Albrecht Mahr from Würzburg, which furthermore brought me closer to the joys and sorrows of my family system and fostered this inner journey to myself.
My encounters and experiences with art
My journey to the Fornos under the L-art umbrella began in 1987 with my studies in art history at the Technical University of Berlin. Baroque and Renaissance painting were the focus of my studies there. I supplemented this with seminars and lectures on modern art at the Free University of Berlin and the Berlin University of the Arts. These experiences had the greatest impact on me. After completing my studies in 1993 with a Master of Arts degree, I initially worked in my parents' antiques business in Berlin and Würzburg, thus remaining connected to the art world.
A journey required the start
In 2024, my employment as Head of Corporate Communications at brainLight GmbH in Goldbach, Lower Franconia, was on the brink of collapse and ended on November 30th. This also marked the end of a 30-year career in public relations. This situation necessitated a career change. Summer allowed me to take a night train to Budapest at the end of July. After three days there, while browsing my guidebook one evening, I discovered the artists' colony of Szentendre, 20 kilometers away. On August 3rd, I took a local train there to get a feel for the small town on the Danube. I strolled through the streets, took photos, and relaxed. In the early afternoon, a gallery owner invited me for an espresso. I spoke with her in English about her art. One of her paintings captivated me so much that I considered buying it. Having returned home in the middle of the month, I thought about it again and searched the artist's online shop for the square picture that shows a red, suggested circle against a grey background.
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A supermarket offer provided the impetus for the creation of the Fornos.
Days later, Aldi Süd in Miltenberg, Lower Franconia, had felt-tip pens on offer. I bought a set on the way to my parents' grave in Amorbach/Odenwald. Once again captivated by art, I began painting at my home in Aschaffenburg and created complete works of art. I have been pursuing this new path of deep psychological expression ever since. I produce artworks, which I call Fornos, under the umbrella of my company, L-art, based in Aschaffenburg. Thus, I embarked on a new path of development and income.
The artistic practice began in the year 2000.
This chosen artistic path can also lead to further inner development for me. Initial successes are evident in the numerous works I have created since August 2024. The Fornos are reduced in their visual language. For these complete artworks, I use photographs from past trips to North Africa and family snapshots. I also spontaneously add blank postcards, adapting them to the current life situation. This creates mosaics of images that I intuitively and quickly fit into frames, each with a Zen-like focus. My years of spiritual practice in meditation and yoga, as well as my grounding in the here and now, form the basis for my work with the Fornos. Another expression of my attitude towards life is my felt-tip pen work. Initially more extensive, but now limited to a few visual statements, these works, through their respective titles, are also strongly connected to transcendence. This form of expression is a continuation of my artistic work from the years 2000 and 2001. At that time, I was living with my mother in Amorbach and began creating the Vis-mades. Approximately 60-80 works originated from this period, which I stored in the dark attic room next to my bedroom.
A stopover in 2009 and a new beginning in 2024
I disposed of these pieces after my mother's death in 2009 and the subsequent clearing out of my parents' house. Before selling it, I took them to a landfill with friends. Eight years after their creation, I no longer recognized their value, the underlying idea, or their profound psychological message. It's incredibly liberating for me to pick up this thread again, 53 years after traveling through Asia with my parents, 31 years after completing my pivotal art history studies, and 23 years after ending my artistic career. Dedicating myself to art once more with L-art in 2025 provokes a sense of anticipation within me: where will it lead me, and what success will it bring? <3
My mother gave birth to me on August 15, 1964 in Dortmund. :D
