Sascha Braunig

Hypnotising colours, repetitive patterns, and optical illusions appear frequently in the work of Sascha Braunig. Her paintings stretch the genre of portraiture with influences of surrealism, Dadaism, and op art. CHAMELEON, 2011, and LASHES, 2011, depict figures that are absorbed by their environment. Because of this symbiosis it is not immediately clear where the subject ends and the background begins. The works touch upon notions of identity, reflecting the overwhelming impact of surroundings on someone’s being. These surroundings leave imprints on the body and eventually overtake it, suggesting ways the individual is threatened by forces beyond their control. Through these works, Braunig challenges the contemporary relation between the body and its environment by transforming portraits into mesmerising images, using a broad range of pictorial references and techniques.