Plexus
2018–ongoing“Das ist das Böse. Alle haben es in sich, keiner will es haben, und wo soll es hin?
In die Luft? Es ist in der Luft, aber da bleibt’s nicht lang, es muss in einen Menschen hinein,
damit sie’s eines Tages packen und töten können.”
Max Frisch, Andorra
In die Luft? Es ist in der Luft, aber da bleibt’s nicht lang, es muss in einen Menschen hinein,
damit sie’s eines Tages packen und töten können.”
Max Frisch, Andorra
‘Plexus’ is a photographic case study based on still lifes that emerge from inherited trauma and postmemory, exploring the family as an essential contributor to psychological and cultural processes across history. Following my grandmother’s death, I return to my family estate in Bavaria and use the house and its archive as stage and protagonists for an allegoric play.
In the process of reconnecting the fragmentary history of my female lineage, the term ‘re-membering’ becomes literal. Immersing myself into this story, I fill the gaps with dreams, associations, and imagined scenes to create a narrative transgressing personal and national boundaries. The objects and architecture of the house become parabolic proxies and open a gate between the past and the present.
Permeating the imagery is a figurative search for apparent reoccurrences in history, echoing my own repetition of my mother’s and grandmother’s behaviours. By confronting a past spanning across four generations, a renewed sense of identity provides ground for a detailed investigation of postmemory, mental health, war, and history.
2nd Place, Professional Stilllife, Sony World Photography Awards 2020
Winner of Camera Work by Palazzo Rasponi II 2020
Nominated for the Prix HSBC de la Photographie 2020
Finalist for the PHMuseum Photography Grant 2020
Finalist for The Aftermath Project Grant 2020
Winner of the Association of Photographers Student Awards 2019
Winner of the Ginnel Foto Award, ‘In Repeat’ 2019
Selected for Travers Smith CSR Art Programme 2019