Moriz Oberberger’s bendy figures and whimsical cartoons reveal “the strange beauty of ordinary situations”

Visual artist, illustrator and animator Moriz Oberberger is “fascinated by strange characters and awkward bodies” – which lays the foundation for his illustrative work. Revelling in moments when “something familiar suddenly becomes uncomfortable or slightly uncanny”, as Moriz puts it, he makes his penchant for the goofy visible on the covers of the equally eccentric magazine MacGuffin, as well as Die Zeit. Adorably minimalist, his work is filled with unusual body proportions and often features muted colours which accentuate his messy mark-making.

In the studio, Moriz keeps a large drawer filled with graphite and coloured pencils, as well as brushes, ink and ballpoint pens. He’s interested in the relationship between artist and tool, and uses “nearly finished” pencils because it alters the drawings, adopting new textures in real-time as the tool reaches a nub. Alternatively, Moriz is just as playful with paint, utilising its viscosity to ooze into melted figurative illustrations reminiscent of Philip Guston, carrying its own unique texture.

“Rather than representing specific individuals, my characters embody vulnerability, tension and the experience of feeling out of place,” says Moriz. “I want the images to feel playful and accessible at first, while revealing more ambiguous or unexpected layers on closer inspection.” Inspired by the looseness and freedom of children’s drawings as well as the rule-based experimentation of Oulipo – a group of writers and mathematicians who made puzzle-like creations with strict systems – Moriz fuses together a love for playfulness and organised chaos to build nonsense that is structured and careful. It’s all about what Moriz calls “the strange beauty of ordinary situations”, and Moriz brings it to surfaces as commonplace as book covers and store fronts, so that you can experience that strangeness in your own ordinary situations.