Corinna Holthusen

The conceptual photographer Corinna Holthusen is known for her suspenseful portraits that mirror today's ideals of beauty and the artificiality associated with them. Her effect on us viewers is like an ambivalent tightrope walk between fascination and cringe. But how does this paradox arise? - Through a complex image editing process, Holthusen digitally superimposes a multitude of physiognomies and then processes them with analogue painting. By means of this sensitive media superimposition, artificial, new 'beings' are created from scratch. The artist herself states: "I love the combination of classical photography with image processing and material - whether with paint, gel mixtures, glue or whatever. I love material experimentation." Through precisely that experimentation, Holthusen deliberately breaks up the previous smoothness of the picture surface, giving her works a twist into the grotesque as well as an emotional depth dimension.

The Hamburg-based artist completed her art studies in Florence at the ‘Studio Arts Center International’. She later professionalized her passion for photography at the ‘Istituto Europeo di Design’ in Milan. Since then, Holthusen's art has been represented not only in German metropolises but also in many international exhibitions, for example in Amsterdam, Madrid, London, New York and Las Vegas. She has also won awards and prizes such as the ‘Prix de Photographie de Paris’, the ‘Kodak Digital Imaging Award’ and the ‘Lead Award: Generated Image 2000’.