Artist Statement

Ulrike uses photography as a means of exploration of herself and the social and political world around her. 
The vibrant colours in her images seek an uneasy and dissonant aesthetic meant to question the status quo. She often works in a surrealistic manner and appreciates the artistic freedom within this approach that encourages a subversion of reality, envisioning new ways of being and imagining new worlds.

 
She regularly works with still life and narrative tableau photography and finds that her process of exploratory construction combined with the materiality of the objects she uses, does have fresh elements of discovery and surprise for her. To build her images, she uses photo editing techniques and an extensive collection of small, natural materials and man-made objects that ranges from tiny bird eggs, branches, and rubber flies to Meow Reo houses. 

She is influenced by the literary genre of science fiction that always questions perceptions and expectations of reality and definitely pushes boundaries in all directions. The artist Sian Bonnell inspires her with her surprising and nondidactic images and her interest in gestures that Ulrike shares. She also considers Duane Michal’s work with its strong poetic elements as an influence.