by Dafne Crocella

Katharina Maria Wimmer (*2002, Vienna) lives in Salzburg and works and studies in Linz. She began her studies in Fine Arts in 2021 at the University of Art and Design Linz in Lucie Stahl’s class for Artistic Photography and, since 2025, continues in Bankleer’s class for Sculpture and Environment. Since 2024 she has been a member of FOTOHOF in Salzburg. Her artistic practice explores narratives of modernity, the concept of progress, and processes of identity formation, focusing on the often invisible structures and inequalities that shape these dynamics. Working with photography and objects, she makes social frameworks and complex relations tangible, inviting critical reflection on familiar systems and narratives. Wimmer has participated in group exhibitions, contributed to publications, and received international scholarships. In 2025 she was nominated for the Simacek Award in Vienna and received a merit scholarship from the University of Art and Design Linz. In 2024 she was awarded the Talent Prize by Energie AG, and in 2023 she received the Promotion Prize for Female Artists from the University of Art and Design Linz.

for further information:
https://www.katharinamariawimmer.com/
https://www.instagram.com/katharina.maria.wimmer/

A light sheet of aluminum with delicate typewritten text. Small overlapping marks, visible and ready to disappear depending on the angle of the light or the closeness of the viewer’s gaze. A work that impressed the Jury of the COMEL Award, which selected it among hundreds, choosing it as one of the 13 finalists of the 2025 edition. How did you experience this recognition? What did you wish to communicate with this work?

The work full identity / absolute form / total logic deals with the desire for self-assurance and self-confidence, as well as with the failure of this process in a social context. With this work, I attempt to make the function of identity concepts and their effect in processes of socialization of individuals aesthetically tangible. The work attempts to reveal the interplay of several simultaneously occurring phenomena. I understand “full identity” to mean the complete absorption of an individual in a single identity characteristic. I see “total logic” as social structures that inscribe themselves as a fundamental logic in individuals.

The work combines the graphic precision of typewriter keystrokes with the delicacy of evanescence, almost like the suggestions of a dream. Presence and absence seem to merge in a non-verbal dialogue that is at the same time extremely rational because it is connected to writing. As we approach the work, we glimpse certain words, only to lose them and search for them again, as in the memory of a dream. Is there a hidden message among the words engraved on the aluminum?

The pairs of words used in the work do not form an independent statement in themselves. Their meaning only emerges in connection with the specific writing. On the one hand, the process of repeating and layering the same terms makes the words more difficult to read. On the other hand, the letters interlock to form a pattern—the precise interweaving of the characters aesthetically reveals what the three word pairs refer to in terms of content.

Absolute form (detail)

The work has three titles: Full Identity, Absolute Form, and Total Logic. Are these the three titles of the three textual layers? Can you tell us something about this superimposition and about the technique you used to create the final piece?

The three terms in the title correspond to the words that were typed into the aluminum surface. Originally, the work consisted of three separate aluminum foils. For the submission to the Premio COMEL I combined these three works into a single image, which also unified the title. In the work which I redesigned for the COMEL Award, the patterns of the respective terms merge into one another. For me, this superimposition conveys the close interplay of the individual phenomena more concretely than would have been possible with three separate sheets.

The theme of the 12th edition of the COMEL Award is related to strength, understood both from a technical and material perspective and from a conceptual one. How does your work respond to this theme? How did you engage with the idea of strength? Is this a conceptual line of research that also appears in your other works?

I have taken up the theme of “silent strength” by viewing attributions of identity and social structures as predetermined and fixed, and by addressing the effects of the complete codification of individuals. I experience this area of tension as very stable and, at the same time, often unnoticed. I find a similar tension in the material aluminum. As a foil, it is light, stable, but also extremely sensitive and fragile. Every touch can permanently change or damage the surface. For me, this tension in the material reflects the rigidity and fragility of social norms and structures. This also applies to my other works. As an artist, I relate the work to the material conditions of modern societies. Thus, I try to communicate relations of production by the material used.

You have previously worked with aluminum. In your artistic path there are also large-scale works made of aluminum. When did you begin using this material and why? What characteristics do you recognize in it from an artistic point of view?

For full identity / absolute form / total logic, I experimented with standard kitchen aluminum foil and tested the material. For me, this also involved researching the use, history, production, and origin of the material. The trio full identity / absolute form / total logic was my first work with aluminum. Later, I also used this material for larger formats. What I particularly appreciate about heavily pressed and thinly rolled aluminum is its shine, which reflects but does not produce a complete mirror image. Aluminum is a versatile material. Although the foils are relatively tear-resistant, they can be irreversibly altered by the slightest touch. I also see this simultaneity of seemingly contradictory properties in the material as a parallel to the concept of the work full identity / absolute form / total logic.

Continuous Scan

Continuous Scan (detail)

Can you tell us something about your educational background? Are there masters of the past to whom you feel particularly connected? If so, why?

I am currently studying fine arts in Linz, specializing in sculpture and environment. Before that, my focus was more on photography, but during my studies I became increasingly interested in object- and installation-based work and began working in this field myself. I am influenced by movements such as Arte Povera, institutionally critical approaches, and conceptual practices. The works of Agata Madejska, Ryan Gander, and Bertille Bak are particularly important to me at the moment.

Your work is strongly material-based and often involves large formats and site-specific installations. How does the work presented for the COMEL Award fit within your broader body of work? Is it part of a series? Does it follow a specific research project?

A common thread running through my work is the examination of materials as carriers of historical and social processes. The choice of material is therefore always a central component of my artistic practice, which I re-examine with each new work. I see my works as working groups: individual works often exist in different stages, variants, or elaborations. There are also several series of works on aluminum foil. The work submitted for the COMEL Award stands as an independent continuation of the trio full identity / absolute form / total logic. The works created around the material aluminum all deal with discourses on identity and their social mediation, but focus on different content depending on the terms used.

Futuro Anteriore

Rund Gang

Writing appears in several of your works, such as More is More or Time Broke Down As We Switched On Light. What role does written text play in your work? Is your compositional choice driven more by the aesthetic of characters or by the concept expressed by the text?

The decision to use text is primarily a conceptual one. I treat text in a similar way to a material or a method of working. In my art I try to use text not as an instrument, e.g. to provide unambiguous formulations, but rather to create a constellation of different levels of phenomena.

Can you tell us something about your upcoming projects?

In my current work, I am increasingly concerned with resource conflicts, the social discourse surrounding them, and the associated militarization. Having recently completed a photographic work on this topic, I am now working on sculptural interpretations. I am experimenting with different materials and exploring their temporal dimension. This means, I am interested in the processuality of representation and objects that elude completeness, for example through decay. Aluminum foil also plays a role in my current work, this time not as a flat image carrier, but processed into three-dimensional objects.