Skip to main content

31/07/2020 - 25/09/2020

I am observing the relationship between humankind and nature on many different levels. I am interested in raising questions like: Are we still part of nature? What is ‘nature’ at all? Could our planet, as we ourselves have shaped it, be what ‘real nature’ is? Are we artificial? Are we natural? We are not the crown of evolution. Are we?

In this questioning process, our disturbed relationship becomes clear to me – as on the one hand, we perceive ‘nature’, rather romantically, as a paradise-like place of longing; while on the other hand, we keep pushing it even further back as a consequence of our current form of civilisation. There is hardly any place on earth where mankind hasn’t been, and there is certainly no place on this planet that we’ve left completely untouched. I consider the two forces, nature and humankind, as divergent positions rather than as a unit – both equipped with tremendous power.

Are we still part of nature? In order to find an answer for these questions, I have gone through a process in which nature for me at first – quite naively – represented a romanticized place of longing. I yearned to escape from the, as it seemed to me, destructive civilization that surrounded me and take refuge in an untouched place. Being highly attracted to places that appear to have been unaffected by man for the last 10 years, I began conducting my own small expeditions, or rather, self-experiments, so to speak.

Loaded with a backpack filled with all sorts of ridiculous survival gear and food, I set off deep into the mountains and forests until I lost myself in vast countryside settings. Besides thoroughly enjoying being within some of these surroundings, to some extent I also had very unpleasant experiences that cured me of my former romantic ideas. Meanwhile, my interest began to shift towards places where nature could be seen to be slowly taking over. Places that humans have strongly influenced and now are no

longer habitable for us – for example, Chernobyl – are a symbol for me that man was indeed part of this environment for a certain amount of time, but that he does not exist at the end of history. Humankind is constantly redistributing resources on this planet, thus shaping its appearance – this fact leads to speculations in my work-in-progress.

We are not the crown of evolution. Are we?

Nadine Baldow, MARKED SHEEP NO 1, raw unwashed sheep wool, sheep marking spray, 2017. The installation situated on the floor is consisting of an organic stratification of raw unwashed sheep‘s wool. Parts of the wool were sprayed and marked with a special paint, which is usually used for colour-marking of sheep. The range of the colours is limited to the colours available as sheep marking spray: blue, violet, yellow and orange. MARKED SHEEP is a ongoing series of installations that that started 2017. The MARKED SHEEP installations have been exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden, the ArtFair Düsseldorf, städtische Galerie Viersen and the Center for Contemporary Arts Leipzig - Halle 14.
Nadine Baldow, MARKED SHEEP NO 1, raw unwashed sheep wool, sheep marking spray, 2017. The installation situated on the floor is consisting of an organic stratification of raw unwashed sheep‘s wool. Parts of the wool were sprayed and marked with a special paint, which is usually used for colour-marking of sheep. The range of the colours is limited to the colours available as sheep marking spray: blue, violet, yellow and orange. MARKED SHEEP is a ongoing series of installations that that started 2017. The MARKED SHEEP installations have been exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden, the ArtFair Düsseldorf, städtische Galerie Viersen and the Center for Contemporary Arts Leipzig - Halle 14.
Nadine Baldow, MUTATION, polyurethane, nylon, acrylic, Urban Nation, Berlin, 2019. The black body consisting of polyurethane is occupying the space with its biomorphic growth-like structures. This site-specific installation is a progression of the series OCCUPIED OBJECTS, in which bright fungus-like structures are taking over everyday-objects of the human being and has been realized at Urban Nation, the museum for contemporary urban art in Berlin.
Nadine Baldow, MUTATION, polyurethane, nylon, acrylic, Urban Nation, Berlin, 2019. The black body consisting of polyurethane is occupying the space with its biomorphic growth-like structures. This site-specific installation is a progression of the series OCCUPIED OBJECTS, in which bright fungus-like structures are taking over everyday-objects of the human being and has been realized at Urban Nation, the museum for contemporary urban art in Berlin.
Nadine Baldow, PRISTINE PARADISE, polyurethane, acrylic, steel rope, Valletta Contemporary, Malta, 2019. An object whose origin is difficult to classify hangs on steel cables from the ceiling to the ground floor. Has it grown locally? Or was it brought from a distant place? It is undoubtedly made of an artificially manufactured material and yet it looks almost natural due to its biomorphic expansion. On the one hand, this structure allows associations such as „corals“ or recalls the growth of plants, but at the same time, it eludes a clear categorization. In every landscape, every plant and every living being there lives an inner logic that determines its structure. At the same time, external factors are influencing this development. This creates vegetation zones, growth forms, insects and animals that are perfectly adapted to each other and form their own system. The urge for survival becomes visible in all these shaped forms. The object itself seems like an organism, with the will to survive, to have grown according to these logical, mathematical principles.
Nadine Baldow, PRISTINE PARADISE, polyurethane, acrylic, steel rope, Valletta Contemporary, Malta, 2019. An object whose origin is difficult to classify hangs on steel cables from the ceiling to the ground floor. Has it grown locally? Or was it brought from a distant place? It is undoubtedly made of an artificially manufactured material and yet it looks almost natural due to its biomorphic expansion. On the one hand, this structure allows associations such as „corals“ or recalls the growth of plants, but at the same time, it eludes a clear categorization. In every landscape, every plant and every living being there lives an inner logic that determines its structure. At the same time, external factors are influencing this development. This creates vegetation zones, growth forms, insects and animals that are perfectly adapted to each other and form their own system. The urge for survival becomes visible in all these shaped forms. The object itself seems like an organism, with the will to survive, to have grown according to these logical, mathematical principles.
Nadine Baldow, SUPER TOXIC TERRARIUM, polyurethane, acrylic, wire, nylon, intervention at Görlitz station, 2016. The train shelter at Görlitz the station becomes the showplace of a rather unusual scenario. Even from distance the traveler notes: This train shelter has been misappropriated in its function as a waiting room. It is home to exotic-toxic appearing, biomorphic grew forms in radiant colors, which are illuminated by a blue-green light. Upon closer observation the traveler is able to marvel at the details of that alien kind of nature and gets the impression of a huge tropical-artificial terrarium.
Nadine Baldow, SUPER TOXIC TERRARIUM, polyurethane, acrylic, wire, nylon, intervention at Görlitz station, 2016. The train shelter at Görlitz the station becomes the showplace of a rather unusual scenario. Even from distance the traveler notes: This train shelter has been misappropriated in its function as a waiting room. It is home to exotic-toxic appearing, biomorphic grew forms in radiant colors, which are illuminated by a blue-green light. Upon closer observation the traveler is able to marvel at the details of that alien kind of nature and gets the impression of a huge tropical-artificial terrarium.
Nadine Baldow, OCCUPIED OBJECT, found object, polyurethane, acrylic, 2019. The series OCCUPIED OBJECTS tells a story in which seemingly alien organisms are occupying everyday-objects of the human being. The sculptures, consisting of steel scrap like fridges, washing-machines or cooking facilities are occupied by a fungus-like organism, which deforms, overruns and corrodes the object itself.
Nadine Baldow, OCCUPIED OBJECT, found object, polyurethane, acrylic, 2019. The series OCCUPIED OBJECTS tells a story in which seemingly alien organisms are occupying everyday-objects of the human being. The sculptures, consisting of steel scrap like fridges, washing-machines or cooking facilities are occupied by a fungus-like organism, which deforms, overruns and corrodes the object itself.
Nadine Baldow, DREAMLAND, stuffed fox, print on frontlite-banner, 2019.
Nadine Baldow, DREAMLAND, stuffed fox, print on frontlite-banner, 2019.

Nadine Baldow

Nadine Baldow is a visual artist working mainly with site-specific installations. She studied with professor Eberhard Bosslet, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden after completing a woodcarving apprenticeship in the Alps. Her work predominantly addresses the relationship between humankind and nature, and their ongoing impact on each other. Aside from the residency at Leitrim Sculpture Center, she has been part of the artist-in-residence in the Himalayas in India; at Gozo Contemporary in Malta, the national park Šumava in Czech; the nature conservation island Vilm in Germany; Urban Nation – museum for urban contemporary arts in Berlin, the Baumwollspinnerei Leipzig (Halle 14) and in Seoul, South Korea in cooperation with the Hansung University, where she created a site-specific intervention. She has also produced several public space interventions in Panjim, Dresden, and Görlitz; and has exhibited her work in Switzerland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and India. Her work has been shown at the Contemporary Art Week Delhi; the International Exhibition for Contemporary Art, Ostrale; Urban Nation Berlin and the ArtFair Düsseldorf.

Website: https://www.nadinebaldow.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadi...

Past Residencies