Residency artist – Kim Welling

I augusti förra året vistades konstnären Kim Welling från Tyskland i vårt residens. I sommar kommer hon tillbaka och har då en videoutställning i galleriet. Här beskriver Kim sig själv och sitt konstnärskap:

 

I intend to make tangible what remains invisible. In my artistic practice, I explore concepts of time, memory, change and imagination. Narratives play a central role in my most important works, because I think this is the best way to touch other people. I work with different techniques such as collage, photography, embroidery and animation.

I grew up somewhere in the countryside near Hamburg, studied design in Maastricht and fine arts in Kassel, then spent several years in Buenos Aires and now I live in Berlin. Traveling is a passion of mine, which I am currently questioning again and again, but which still won’t let me go. 

I am grateful for the concentrated creative phases during my residencies in Spain, Argentina, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sweden. 

I have shown my work in solo exhibitions in Córdoba/Spain (2014), La Plata/Argentina (2016), Hamburg (2016), Buenos Aires (2017 + 2019) and in Berlin (2024), as well as in group exhibitions in Germany and Argentina, among others.

 

Description of my latest work: Out of reach

Have you ever imagined going where no one has gone before?

‘Out of reach’ an artistic project that presents hidden places on our globe. Places with no record of any kind: no photo, no #, no human, no Street View. Only the sun is a witness. My competition entry is a film about a hidden place in the middle of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina).

In the story ‘On the rigor of science’ by Jorge Luis Borges, the king wished for a map of his kingdom on a scale of 1:1. Today, Google Maps brings us closer to his once utopian vision. However, in Borges’ vast homeland of Argentina, of all places, there are still blank spots, such as those in Tierra del Fuego, places of which there are only satellite images but no photos.

For me, as a European, these are precious places of longing that leave room for imagination and yearning for faraway places.

But how can I deal with my longing for the unexplored today, two centuries after Humboldt’s travels? In times of overtourism, the trend of posting photos of ‘insider tips’ on Instagram raises the question: How can we dream instead of trampling on unspoilt landscapes?

I didn’t go to the places in my films but spoke to people who live nearby. Stories emerged from these interviews, which I illustrated with my own imagination. This leaves room for a hidden world…

…the imagined landscape is brought even more to life by the music of ‘built in’, an Argentinian band from Buenos Aires: electronic sounds mingle with the sounds of nature and the melodies of chaja.

Videoutställningen Out of Reach pågår den 10-17 augusti i Nordingrå Konstby.

Du hittar mer information om Kim Welling här:

Instagram: kim.annika.we

Webside: kimannikawelling.com

Trailer ”Out of reach“ – deutsch : https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1093386617