Kathrin Linkersdorff
“Fairies”
New York, 245 Tenth Avenue
At the heart of Linkersdorff's practice is the concept of wabi-sabi: the view that ephemerality and imperfection are integral and even beautiful parts of life. The artist first encountered the principle during the 1990s upon relocating to Japan to study architecture. Traveling the country extensively, Linkersdorff began practicing Sumi-e, a traditional form of Japanese ink painting. While studying the art form, the artist accepted the beauty in impermanence, imperfection, and transience. Today, wabi-sabi is the lifeforce behind her photography practice, which she uses to depict the internal architecture of living organisms in their most fragile state - that between being and perishing. While flowers and bacteria form the subjects of Linkersdorff's photographs, her practice is not a matter of mere depiction; rather, the organic becomes a visual metaphor for transience as a fundamental life process.
FAIRIES II / 6, 2020 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuehle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth MEDIUM: Image/Paper: 31 1/2” x 31 1/2” (80 x 80 cm) Framed: 32 1/4" x 32 1/4" (82 x 82 cm) Edition of 5 + 2 AP
For her Fairies works, Linkersdorff collects and dries tulips over a period of several months. Using her own method-cultivated through years of careful experimentation and lively exchange with scientists-the artist extracts the flowers' pigments, which she re-concentrates into a natural dye. The artist then submerges the dried, translucent flowers into a liquid medium where their petals unfurl. Suspended in fluid, their delicate structures can be observed at a level of intricacy normally hidden from the human eye. Often, Linkersdorff introduces her floral dyes into this very same medium where they diffuse in swirling, colorful tendrils.Building on her previous bodies of work with flowers, Fairies lays unique emphasis on process, showcasing the lyrical dance between the fragile form of each flower, and the natural flow of pigment through fluid space.
Alongside her photographs, video documentation of the artist's process will be exhibited, offering a behind-the-scenes look into the creation of Linkersdorff's surreal images. In these videos, natural dyes are seen sinking and swelling in sweeps of color, unraveling amongst the flower petals they once filled with life. These videos spotlight the drama of Linkersdorff's practice, from the first drop of ink, to dynamic crescendos of color, to the final dim of the denouement.
During the exhibition's opening reception on Friday, September 8, the gallery will present a one-night only ballet performance in collaboration with BalletCollective, a New York-based arts organization that connects artists, composers and choreographers. With Kathrin Linkersdorff as the Source Artist, choreographer Omar Román De Jesús and composer Robert Honstein have created an original ballet exploring themes of probability and chance, an excerpt of which will premiere at Yossi Milo. Later this year, the full ballet will be performed by seven New York City Ballet dancers from October 31 through November 2, 2023.
