Looking Back ( Helmut Newton ) Installation, 2022

bamboo rings, ink on inkjet prints on rice paper, metal chain, leather strings, metal rings, rope, cork ribbon, recycled yarn, string

Having had the good fortune to work with Helmut Newton in my twenties, I now turn to look back. I gaze back at myself as an object and use these pictures as a starting point to reflect on the act of looking, the male gaze and how I feel about being an object. I am essentially changing myself from an object into a subject again.The object is fragmented, conflicted and tied up in many different knots. There is an underlying structure of reality that is hidden.

I focus in on the eyes that are masked. What emotions do they betray? How do they look at being looked at? How does the object see the viewer?

Ink bubbles and stains add a fantasy layer on top of Newton's fantasy and give the work a dream like quality.

Haus Des Wandels

Artist/Mother 

2 Installations,  2022

Healing Plants Mobile and Ritual Circle

Sticks, medicinal plants, string, stones

Impressions of a Place/ Haus des Wandels

Eco prints on cotton and silk

I create fictional ritual sites from natural materials that are reminiscent of times long past and mysterious rites.

Plants are the basis of our lives and so much more... They have a variety of properties such as medicinal uses and dye for fabrics . I walked through the garden with the "Flora Incognita" app to identify plants and get to know my surroundings better. I was amazed at the numerous the properties of common and abundant garden plants . Almost every plant I identified has culinary, medicinal, and sometimes industrial uses. The plants in the mobile are the plants I used for my dying process, but each also has a variety of healing properties.

Another dimension of place is made visible through the imprints of the shapes and colors of the plants on the fabric. In this way I connect more deeply with my environment, I become a part of it. I map it, distill its essence, and at the same time create something new that is absolutely site-specific. These prints are different for every place and every time. All prints are made with the same plants, but there are large color variations due to different additives and backgrounds.

 Forest of Memories Series

‘Do you remember the forest? Does the forest remember you?’

 

The Veiled Paintings Series

‘Veiling the truth with hidden beauty’


1. Cosmic Background Radiation

  2. Sound of Black Holes Colliding

 Ink Drawings

When you really look at something an intimacy arises and a connection is revealed.

About

Nina Heimlich is a German born artist. She has lived and worked in Paris, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. and is currently based in Berlin.

Nina first entered the world of visual arts in the international fashion scene. She has worked with the world's most accomplished photographers, including Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, Arthur Elgort, Patrick Demarchelier, Juergen Teller and Miles Aldridge. Nina has worked for world-famous fashion designers, including Alexander McQueen, Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, John Galliano, Donatella Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan and Rei Kawakubo from Comme des Garçons.

The outstanding artistry and the creative energy of her surroundings inspired Nina to explore and create her own visual worlds combining zeitgeist, rebellion and future-oriented beauty. In close cooperation with fashion designers and photographers she learned the craft and process of creation from inspiration to public presentation. Along this journey, the sensual and haptic properties of fabrics became part of her creative vocabulary.

Longing for a deeper understanding of the source of all creativity, Nina studies various spiritual traditions, including traditional yogic practices and various forms of meditation that deepen her artistic expression and inform the creation of each artwork.

Nina attended the Art Students League of New York, like before her such luminaries as Louise Bourgeois, Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly.


 
 

What lies beyond the readily apparent? This question is the guiding star in my process and informs my choice of materials, subject matter and the quality of each line and brushstroke.

I like to use materials that are raw, ancient and close to nature. They imbue the artwork with their vitality and essence.

Strength and fragility are centering themes in my work. At first glance thought to be opposites I see them as dancing partners, balancing and supporting each other, creating dynamic movement and ultimately searching for wholeness.

We are all searching for wholeness and my art pieces are moments on that journey.