My dream of flying into space was born when I was 4 years old, and the first humans landed on the moon in 1969. And I have been following this dream until today!
As an entrepreneur and visionary, I founded “Astronautin” in April 2017 to fly the first German woman into space and organized an astronaut selection and training program for women.
For me spaceflight was never a question of courage and braveness. I just wanted to see the Earth from outside, from the universe. I wanted to feel part of this endless universe and look down on our home planet from the moon!
Having been a CEO of a space engineering services company for 14 years built my management and leadership skills.
The idea to create a pavilion of the universe is for a me a symbol to unite art with the universe and thus a philosophical and even evolutionary development of humankind.
Being an artist is like being the voice and color behind the questions that humanity, as well as I personally, am unable to answer. By giving form to questions I may not even fully understand, I find meaning in the unknown.
I am an all-encompassing artist working with various materials, inspired by the contrasts and juxtapositions found in humans, nature and space: the interactions between these elements are at the heart of my work. Time and space lie at the origin of much of my work, which, always in constant search of new cues, evolves through the viewer’s participation. The work thrives off of this interaction, speaks with its materials and reflects the innumerable impressions that the interpreter of the work, that is, the viewer, makes of it.
I am a curator and an artscience scholar based in Austria. My ongoing practice in the field of art and science is twofold: as curator I am developing exhibitions, residencies, and projects that bring together artists and cutting-edge science; as scholar, I am researching artscience collaborations and the impact of such exchanges on actors, organizations, audience, and the relevance of the outcome for the field.
The work of contemporary artists in the realm of space art, space science, astronomy, and astrophysics has become one of the main pillars of my curatorial work in the past decade. Main scientific partners are the European Space Agency ESTEC, the European Southern Observatory, as well as several research groups at leading observatories. Previously, I was also commissioned to curate an exhibition for Chinese National Astronomy, and invited as guest curator of artistic positions at the EPFL’s Laboratory for Experimental Museology and Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO) exhibition “Cosmos Archaeology”. Other artscience project partners include the acib Austrian Center for Industrial Biotechnology, Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, TU Berlin, and the European Commission’s Joint Research Center.
Universe Pavilion
Partners
