Katharina Huemer

Lives and works in Vienna, Austria

Artist statement

My artistic practice centers on spatial distortion, visual perception, and the subtle hierarchies embedded in everyday observation. The figures and spaces may appear coherent at first glance, but on closer inspection reveal uncomfortable interactions, distorted perspectives or a subtle sense of incongruity. Working primarily with oil paint and drawing, I interpret these "human, all too human" scenes with an uncanny yet humorous subtext. My process is highly responsive to what I see, who I meet, and the conversations I have. Whatever happens around me is quickly absorbed into my visual language. Rather than functioning as straightforward representations, my compositions shift between figuration and abstraction. I destabilize perspective and scale to confront how we perceive our environment and social dynamics. My approach is process-driven and accumulative. A central aspect of my art is this permeability: the specific geographies, rhythms, and atmospheres of a place inscribe themselves directly into the surface, fundamentally altering my compositional decisions. I selectively borrow motifs and transform them into a contemporary visual language, taking subjects and mundane phenomena from art history, pop culture, everyday life, folklore, fashion, or rural landscapes and reassembling them into new realities.

Artwork