Silvia Lemke

Lives and works in Dortmund, Germany

Artist statement

It was raining cats and dogs when I stepped onto my balcony in July 2021 and started taking pictures. I haven't stopped since. I photograph flowers almost exclusively, those on my balcony, in all weather, day and night. Blossom colors are my pigments; light is my vehicle - sunlight, kitchen lamp, neighbors' windows. As a painter, my approach to photography is experimental. I work with intentional movement, wide apertures, long or multiple exposures. I love working with 'bad light', immersing myself among the plants, face to face. I rarely do any post-processing, besides minor technical adjustments for printing. My interest lies in colors as experience and the singularity of each interaction in place in time. All the images from this series 'Incidentia Lucis' are titled with numbers, which indicate the exact moment the image was conceived. In painting, I am the one who puts the first color on canvas. In photography, the plant and light set the color - I respond. The search for my place in that moment begins. It's about interaction between the plants and me, their colors and forms and what they trigger. My images aren't about plants - they're about encounters and relationships.

Artwork