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Kathrin Karras


Artist Statement

At the core of my work resides the human being…etched into a portrait, a landscape, tracing the waves of transformation, and especially as is manifest in the poetry of dreams.
I’m deeply moved and captivated by the human predicament, the stories, and that which infuses life and is challenged by fear.
How do we become who we are? Where are we from? Where are going? What remains after all is said and done?
I’m reaching into the richness of beingness by collecting stories and dreams- those of others, and my own.
For me, photography is a search for traces, both inwards and outwards. Whether past or present, I work on simultaneity, on the merging of time levels in my pictures in order to create new pictorial spaces without temporal categorisation.
 For me, photography is a means to an end; I am not interested in recognisability or the traditional attributes of the medium. I explore the limits of the medium and experiment with it.


About the Artist

Kathrin Karras, was born in Guben in 1967, she lives and works im Löwenberger Land (Brandenburg).

›Kathrin Karras' work occupies an unmistakable position in contemporary photography. Her works break with conventions and familiar viewing habits of the medium, taking a counter-position to traditional photography that focuses on recognisability, legibility, clarity and sharpness.‹
Carmen Schliebe, curator (Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art, excerpt, text for the exhibition ‘Farbflüchtige Lieder’ at the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art, 2022)


›From within her own spectrum, she developed an usually captivating visual language that takes inspiration from the lived- not however the external, but more so the internal worlds.
Her transformations seem analogous to a ritual, her visual choices are an energetic transmission as characteristically found in painting and poetry. Art’s strength to conjure unknown realms into daylight is virtuously at play in Karras’ work.‹
Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Photographer (excerpt, text for the exhibition ‘Schattenrisse’ at the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture Brandenburg, 2018)




Education

1974–1984
schooldays in Guben und Cottbus

1984–1987
education in typesetting technology with high school diploma in Berlin

2005–2006
study of photography, imago-fotokunst Berlin, Artistic Director Ursula Kelm

2007–2011
autodidactic study of photography, Mentors: Ursula Kelm und Gundula Schulze Eldowy

Member of the Professional Association of Visual Artists Brandenburg e.V.




Publications

2024
Wasser, Art book accompanying the exhibition, edition timpani
2023
Die Frau ohne Schatten, Programme book for the new production, Staatsoper Stuttgart
2022
1000 & Deine Sicht, Art book on the exhibitions, Städtische Museen Zittau
2021
Zauberformeln, Art book accompanying the exhibition, edition timpani
2021
Leben an Oder-Spree, Art book accompanying the exhibition, Rotary Club Bad Saarow
2019
..aller Welt Enden..fontane,Art book accompanying the exhibition, edition timpani
2019
Hinter/Vor und Nach der Mauer, Exhibition catalogue, Klostergalerie Zehdenick
2019
Galerie Haus 23 Cottbus, Catalogue of the gallery chronicle, Galerie Haus 23



Scholarships / Prizes

2021
Micro-grant from the MWFK of the State of Brandenburg for the book project ›Schattenrisse‹

2020
Micro-grant from the MWFK of the State of Brandenburg for ›Inward Breathing‹
Micro-grant from the MWFK of the State of Brandenburg for ›Meine liebe Heimat‹

2022+2021+2019
Brandenburg Art Prize – nominated

2018
Mixed up Federal Prize – Winner of the federal competition for cultural educational partnerships for the photo project Hidden Places (with DKB Stiftung and EXIN OS Zehdenick)

2012
AOK Northeast Art Prize – nominated

2009
8.International Barnack Bienale – recognition

2007
Youth award for fine arts – recognition from the Sparkasse Spree Neisse



Teaching Activities

2023-2025
Deutsche Kreditbank AG Foundation - Perception and art in dialogue - Cooperation with schools

2020–2021
Monastery gallery Zehdenick – Perception and art in dialogue

2018–2019
Foundation of the Deutsche Kreditbank AG – Photography project Hidden Places

2017–2019
Northern Brandenburg cultural network e.V. – Artistic design in cooperation with schools



Collections

Collection Vario Dental, Dresden
Collection zukunft im zentrum gmbh berlin
various private collections