In the ‘KhK im Gespräch’ series, artistic associate Anna Holzhauer (Kunsthochschule Kassel) explains how engaging with a place and its conditions gives rise to new works, the significance of materiality and change for her sculptures, and how her own artistic experience informs her teaching. The interview was conducted by Çiğdem Özdemir.
How would you define your artistic practice?
In my artistic practice, I am interested in the interfaces between the interior and the exterior, as well as the question of the surface and the boundaries of things. The fragmentary and the fragile play a central role in this. Sculpture is, by its very nature, participatory, as it can be not only viewed but also physically experienced by walking around it or even walking through it. This direct relationship between body, space and object prompted me to work in three dimensions even whilst I was a student.
From idea to realisation: how do your works come about?
Usually, there is first a location which I engage with in terms of both content and form, and around which I develop initial ideas that eventually crystallise into a concept. The realisation of the works is guided by the specific requirements of the site as well as by the idea directly associated with it. A wide variety of materials are used in the process. Steel, plastic, concrete and wood are my preferred materials for large-scale, walk-through works. In addition, I also work with materials such as water, icing sugar, clay, plaster and textiles. For example, I once built a 150 kg sculpture out of modelling clay because I was particularly interested in the materiality and the time-dependent process of transformation that was directly visible on the surface.
How does your own artistic practice influence what you pass on to students in your teaching?
First and foremost, teaching is primarily about supporting individual processes, providing inspiration for the development of artistic work and helping students to identify the core of their own exploration and questions. This support is highly individual, and the media chosen by the students are so open-ended and diverse that I cannot always offer practical advice on the specific execution. Of course, my own artistic experience always influences my teaching, but I am not concerned with dictating specific artistic decisions or perspectives.
What do you want to trigger, initiate or question with your art?
Even though my works are often large-scale, I am interested in the subtle and the ambiguous. I try to approach experiential reality and to question my own visual habits. Conscious perception of my works tends to take a back seat, because I may come across them by chance and only then sharpen my focus – or perhaps not even realise that it is an artistic intervention. But if my work influences perception by creating a moment of disorientation and focus, then perhaps I have achieved something. It is important to me to adopt a different perspective and remain open-minded.
Anna Holzhauer
The visual artist Anna Holzhauer is an artistic associate to Prof. Florian Slotawa in the Sculpture – Visual Arts specialisation at the Kunsthochschule Kassel. In her artistic practice, she explores the question of what space is and how it is constructed. In doing so, she engages with classic questions of form and perspective and examines the relationships between line and contour. As well as developing her sculptures, she is also interested in institutional spaces within the context of art. Anna Holzhauer has received several awards for her artistic work, including the working grant from the Kunstfonds Foundation, the Darmstadt Secession’s Young Artists’ Prize, an artist-in-residence grant in Dehua, China, the Kassel Art Prize from the Dr Wolfgang Zippel Foundation, and the Georg Meistermann Fellowship. Her works have been exhibited at venues including the Kunsthaus Essen, the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, the Märkisches Museum in Witten, the Kunstverein Bellevue-Saal in Wiesbaden, the Kasseler Kunstverein and the Saarländisches Künstlerhaus in Saarbrücken.
About the ‘KhK im Gespräch’ series
The ‘KhK im Gespräch’ series introduces the artistic and academic staff of the Kunsthochschule Kassel. The focus is on their individual working methods, current projects and research approaches, as well as their commitment to teaching and research. This highlights the diversity of perspectives and ideas that contribute to the further development of the Kunsthochschule Kassel.