Die Maskerade des Realen - Limited Edition 1 of 4 Photograph

My interest in the body as part of my artistic practice was initiated by the fact that I grew up with an identical twin sister. This special situation of having an identical twin sister on the one hand, and the wish to be accepted as an unique individual on the other hand, was a big challenge in my life when I was a teenager. Finding my own identity and and it's permanent verification within society, proved to be the basis of my artistic endeavor. I work with the body in a socio-cultural context in terms of its role in image-generating media like photography, television or film. The issues I investigate are ranging from gender constructions to beauty ideals up to the influence of the "žartificial generated body" on our traditional image of the body. Likewise, my relentless use of this media is an attempt to uncover its manipulative mechanisms. My artistic aim is to question the visual depiction of the body in context to the increasing digitization of the »real world«. I show this visual shift in a series of photographic images, videos or mixed-media installations for instance. Digital techniques became my favored implement, to give a direct link to this digital parallel world. This technique also allows me the possibility to create an "žartificial reality" of the human body which is not visible at first glance.