Gesche Würfel

Lives and works in New York, NY, USA

Artist statement

My research-based art practice examines how humans relate to natural, built, and ideological environments. Working primarily with photography and expanded photographic processes, I investigate how climate change, political systems, and social hierarchies manifest in landscapes and architecture. I ground my work in long-term, site-specific research and material experimentation, positioning photography as a visual medium and a critical research tool at the intersection of art, the humanities, and science. Each project develops through cycles of fieldwork and studio work. Research methods include archival study, site walks, interviews, and dialogue with experts and local communities, which inform the selection of locations. I photograph these sites with medium- or large-format analog cameras. The slow, deliberate nature of this approach allows for sustained attention to time, materiality, and chance. In the studio, I employ experimental techniques such as alternative exposure and development, solarization, heat treatment, laser etching, and collaging. These materially driven interventions reflect conditions of instability, erosion, and fragmentation, mirroring the environmental and socio-political systems under investigation. The resulting works function as visual records of change, absence, and accumulation over time. My international background is central to my practice. Having lived and worked in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, I approach place as...

Artwork