153 x 153 cm / 59 x 59 in
Edition of 5 + 2 APs
80 x 80 cm / 31.5 x 31.5 in
Edition of 8 + 2 APs
35 x 35 cm / 13.8 x 13.8 in
Purdy Hicks Gallery is delighted to present works by Kathrin Linkersdorff from her ongoing Fairies series, as well as exhibiting for the first time the Microverse and Wabi Sabi series of photographs.
Linkersdorff is known for her botanical photography, particularly of tulips, influenced by the Japanese perspective of appreciating nature. Embracing the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, finding beauty in impermanence and imperfection, her work captures flowers at distinct moments, celebrating the cycle of life and the transient beauty of passing time.
In the series, Wabi Sabi 2013-18, the images picture a single flower against a black background. 'Each flower was valuable to me, for each one was different ... I wanted to learn how to control and influence the process of wilting and drying'. (Kathrin Linkersdorff). A single flower's fleetingly short time on earth, the cycle and ethereality of its petals, can be seen to provide a reflection on both life’s vitality and fragility. Linkersdorff goes further by pushing these boundaries, framing the flower for 'eternity' in its most fragile form as it approaches disintegration.
In her Fairies series, Linkersdorff reveals the flowers’ ‘skeleton’, its inner architecture, by bleaching the tulips and extracting their pigment. Submerging the delicate dried tulips into water, she reintroduces the pigment concentration. The pigment, which the artist describes as ‘an expression of life’, searches a form through the stretching and twisting petals, clouds of colour dispersing under the influence of flow and gravity. The formerly separated elements of colour and form reunite, bringing ‘the dead matter a second bloom at least as colourful as the first.’ From a distance, the transparent petals resemble the wings of tiny ghostly creatures, while up close, the monumental scale reveals the veins or ‘pencil lines’ of the wings or petals in unparalleled detail.
In her Microverse series, created in collaboration with microbiologist Prof. Dr. Regine Hengge, Linkersdorff continues her exploration of nature's cycles by visualising the dynamic interplay of growth and decay. Discoloured plants and fruits serve as a substrate for bacterial colonies, which form strikingly colourful and morphologically complex patterns as they metabolize the organic material. Through this process, Linkersdorff captures the essential circularity of life, turning decay into something unexpectedly beautiful. The Microverse series resonates with her prevailing theme of embracing the beauty in transience, and highlights the intricate processes that drive nature’s transformation.
Kathrin Linkersdorff, (born 1966 Berlin) trained as an architect. She then went on to study photography at the Schule für Fotografie am Schiffsbauerdam in Berlin with Robert Lyons in 2006-2007. To celebrate their acquisition of her work, Philadelphia Art Museum included it in a presentation of floral works in their collection in 2023. The major exhibition, Kathrin Linkersdorff - Works, took place at the Deichtor Hallen, Internationale Kunst und Fotografie, Hamburg, 2023-24, with her new research project making use of bacteria being exhibited here for the first time. The book Kathrin Linkersdorff: Works was published in 2024 by Hartmann Books to coincide with the exhibition.
Microverse, an exhibition of her work from 2013-25, is on view until 8 June 2025 at the Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin.
