working captive during lockdown with Kaeptive - Simon Kämpfer

Unagi chats with digital artist, Simon Kämpfer, on creating surreal, dreamy visuals as the world comes out of lockdown. From the digital artist behind Kaeptive and current 3D Designer at Six N. Five, we discuss working outside of a studio and dreams of having his digital art inside a physical gallery space.

We first came across Simon Kämpfer during his work on Six N. Five’s Japanese garden project. The project produced still life visuals of seemingly picturesque Japanese spaces and gardens that push the viewer into the imaginary. Simon produced the sketches for this Japanese garden project and has subsequently produced his own series, such as ‘Hidden Places’ and ‘Summer in Spain’.

Unagi: For someone that hasn’t seen your work before how would you describe it?

Simon: I would say my work is a stylistic version of reality with a hint of realism. My goal is to combine aesthetic design with technical knowledge to create surreal and dreamy visuals. I get inspired a lot by nature and my surroundings, but all my artworks are created completely in a digital space.

Have you been greatly affected by coronavirus in your work and output?

 As the work is created in a digital space nothing really changed. The only difference is that we are working from home instead of working in the studio. I would say the mental health however which is of course connected to your performance got affected, because here in Spain (where I am currently living) is a complete lockdown. We are not allowed to take a walk or go running by ourselves since the beginning. We are only allowed to go to the supermarket. So being kind of captivated (pun intended) has affected me a bit.

You worked with the studio SixNFive, what was your input into these projects such as the Japanese garden? 
The whole Art Direction and overall design was done by SixNFive. For the most part I created the first sketches of the designs which got improved by the great team! It was really interesting to see on how they managed to explore the scenes further and create this amazing visuals.

There is a huge movement towards digital art and lots in the media about how to display art during this time of global quarantines. What first inspired you to work with digital art?

 Honestly it just happened. I just started to pick up the adobe programs and played around without having any goal in mind. But I remember what inspired me to do 3D. It was basically just a video I watched and the person had his own logo spinning around in 360° in the top corner all the time and I was really curious on how to do it. So I did a lot of research and after a period of time I figured it out. Since then I felt in love with the 3D world and all the freedom & possibilities that comes along with it. Last year I focused a lot on Still-Visuals, so this year I also like to do more motion work as well.

Do you currently have any exhibitions coming up? Where would you most like to show your work?

Besides features in Magazines/Books or in the online space I never had an exhibition so far.

I would love to do it at some point if I come across the right people. I was always excited about the idea having my art displayed in museums. It doesn’t really matter which one as long as it has some nice space to present the art. If I would need to pick a museum spontaneously it would be the Louisiana Museum which is in Denmark near to Copenhagen. I had the chance to visit it myself and I really like the overall mood.

What are your plans for 2020?

One big goal I have for this year is to go full time freelancing! Over the last years it was just something on the side. Creating client and personal projects after my work which can be a challenge from time to time, but I really enjoy it. Another challenge is to find a good work life balance, but still being able to explore new things & learn different programs.

For more of Simon’s work - visit his website kaeptive.com or check his Instagram.