KATHARINA SIEVERDING

The large format photographs by Katharina Sieverding (1944), from 1969 then retaken in 1996, stem from the series of the 16 works of art Stauffenberg-Block. They each present a deformed self-portrait, created from photo booth shots. Following a solarisation process and after the use of a red filter, their metallic surface gives the impression of being liquefied. The artist considers them, above all, as “human images” and dares only explore the possibilities of her own effigy. The title makes a direct reference to the German officer having made an attempt on the life of Hitler and seems to hide a profound significance but remains, nevertheless, enigmatic. These faces, enlarged to a gigantic scale, compel the viewer to a direct confrontation, forcing him to interfere with the intimacy of an image frozen as an icon. The works of art of Katharina Sieverding “can no longer be situated in the theoretical field of representation. They are visions of herself, which have become images, while escaping any kind of fixing.”

Daniel Marzona