Janaina Tschäpe
The artist speaks in front of her series, "100 Little Deaths," installed as part of the NMWA exhibition Super Natural, 2015; Photo by Laura Hoffman, NMWA
In her photography and video work, Tschäpe creates fantastical worlds that incorporate the bodies of mysterious or amorphous beings into organic landscapes, reflecting her interest in mythologies from around the world. Inspired by memories, myths, and dreams, Tschäpe often stages her models as nebulous creatures with appendages made from fabric, water-filled latex, or inflatables. She uses landscapes as a narrative source, where the whimsical and the actual coexist. Her paintings and drawings feature saturated colors and reflect her interest in the fluid and transformative properties of water. Tschäpe’s work is highly personal—the artist alludes to her own mythology as well as humanity’s complex interactions with the natural world.
Tschäpe was born in Munich, Germany, and raised in São Paolo, Brazil. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and is included in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others. Tschäpe lives and works in Brooklyn.
