Finja
Sander

Finja Sander was born 1996 in Hildesheim, Germany. She started photographing in the age of 13 and developed her own way of seeing within the following years. Especially the black and white aesthetic fascinated her. Already at this young age, she concentrated on a strict practice and did a lot of research, focussing on the background of photography and art-history. After turning 18 she started to study fine arts at the university of the arts in Berlin. Before and while the first years of her studies, Sander produced hundreds of self-portraits. Within this practice of self-direction and searching after "the unknown" by repeatedly reflecting her own actions and movements, Finja approached  her work slowly into the direction of a performative practice. Since the year 2017 she completely  changed her medium and conceptualized from this point on over 25 performance pieces. These works contain interventions, long-duration works as well as video pieces and photo documentations of the performative process. In February  2020, Finja Sander started a collaboration, called [acta]ODEM together with the artist Daniel M.E. Schaal. They collaborate, while combining their practice. Daniel paints and produces installations and objects. Finja  takes up these impulses and reacts mostly with a performative intervention. This leads to a complex narrative which always follows new ways of perception and thinking. 

Artiststatement:

Since three years now, Finja is concentrating on producing performative pieces and the theoretical and philosophical debate on photography and documentation of performances. From the year 2017 on, over 25 performative works emerged. These works are always related to each other, regarding theoretical content, the chosen materials and used settings.The crucial point within her work is, when the body becomes the material itself. During the performative process, it is necessary, that body, given material and the surrounding somehow align themselves, to become equal protagonists. The procedure in every piece is similar: Finja interacts with the situation or the chosen material and treat it like a real counterpart. Body and material establish a relationship. They negotiate, approach, fight, reconcile and coexist. Her body is fully open and so absolutely vulnerable to the effects of material, time and space. It transforms and materializes itself. As a result, it functions as a sculptural  object which creates persistent images, that can be seen in an art historical context, as a critical comment on current situations, or as a discourse about existence, tradition and the human as a cultural being.