Schnell's paintings suggesting abstract architecture and landscapes appear as shimmering cascades of color. The artist imbues his paintings with a special luminosity in which the pictorial spaces appear translucent and with this unique luminosity become reminiscent of glass paintings, which are also a part of Schnell's repertoire. In 2009 and again in 2017 he created extraordinary glass windows in Leipzig and Cologne. Three additional paintings with the title Splitter are presently being produced for the exhibition in Chemnitz.