Ivonne Thein
Ivonne Thein is an artist living and working in Berlin, Germany.
In our performance-oriented society, there is a growing tendency towards objectification, which encodes the body as an arbitrarily manipulable mass. We can do something with our body, shape it or manipulate it. Today it seems omnipresent, permeable and somehow surmountable, and increasingly resembles a set of possibilities. In my cross-media work, I no longer understand the body as a whole, but rather fragmented or manipulated. In mixed media installations, videos, photographs and sculptures I dedicate myself to topics such as transience, gender, posthumanism and the change of our contemporary idea of the body in the digital age.
Suzy Royal
Curator
“Ivonne Thein employs a number of different mediums such as photography, sculpture, video and installation, to tackle the theme of motherhood, intimacy and the female body, in ways which are thought-provoking, as well as beautiful. In her work 'How not to be seen as a body l', from 2020, she confronts the viewer with one's own corporality and mortality, as she deconstructs and reproduces the body in and on unexpected materials. The installation consists of a commercially produced carpet printed with an image of swirling grey and brown hair, 5 computer-generated prints of extreme close-ups of various body parts, photo-printed silicone covered fabric resembling a garment made from human skin, as well as a 5-minute video loop with the alternating sound of the beating of a heart, breathing, and dripping liquid. Sensual and fragmented views of moving hair, flesh both human and constructed out of silicone, complete the other-worldly feel of the video. These seemingly disjointed works come together within the framework of the overall installation, the tactile skin-like fabrik, bringing life to the cool, abstracted photographs of barely discernible body parts- veins, or the lines on a palm. Each element speaks to the fragility of our existence, breaking the body into a jumble of abstracted parts where we are unable to see the whole.”
ArtConnect asked the winning artists to share with us a glimpse into their creative life to get a sense of their personal inspiration and artistic process.
What are some of the central themes you pursue in your work?
The change in our contemporary idea of the body in the digital age is a central theme in my artistic work. I also work on topics such as posthumanism and socio-political issues in the context of gender and the transience of the body.
How has your art practice developed over time?
I first studied photography and video. At the end of my studies, I knew that my interest was more artistic than applied. For this reason, I continued to work only on artistic projects afterwards.
Photo from Ivonne Thein
What drew you to work with your medium/media of choice?
I worked with photography and video for some years until I started to expand my practice to installations, sculptures and digital techniques such as AI based works or augmented reality.
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as an artist?
Finding out that motherhood is still a big taboo in the art world.
Ivonne Thein in Studio
Describe a typical day in the studio/wherever you make your work.
I usually spend 6 to 8 hours in my studio. I often start with computer work or administrative tasks. But I like the variety, which is why after a while I mostly devote myself to making art. Since I work with such different media, it can be a work on a sculpture or a computer-based work. Most of the time I have a rough plan of what I want to do that day.
What future directions do you envision for your work?
I would like to work with AR and VR for some of my future projects.
What are you currently working on? / What’s coming up next for you?
I work on AI based artworks since the beginning of this year. I also transfer some of the work which was created by the AI and me back to the real space in the form of sculptures and show it in installations. I would like to combine the AI work together with AR and videos for future installations.
Lina Stallmann
Curator
“Ivonne Thein’s installations are like strange worlds to me. It is great how you can recognise things from
your own life, nonetheless the scenarios seem itchy and confusing. The hyperreal effects of the works really hit a nerve. I feel that makes the work trigger me to think further about the body and how it is perceived in different contexts.
I am curious to see the installations in person. I am pretty sure I would want to touch the artworks, which is a good thing, isn’t it?”
See more of Ivonne Theini’s work
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