Looking Back
by Dr. Cora Waschke
2020
If one takes a look back at the work of Kaarina-Sirkku Kurz, what becomes apparent is the photographer‘s stringent examination of the body and the ways in which it is viewed. An important aspect here is the shell — as a boundary, as well as a protective space for the body in connection to an external gaze. For instance, in her earlier work About a Sense of Belonging (2008), this shell consists of fashionable clothes and accessories that teenagers clad themselves in. The close-up portraits reveal faces — intensified by cropping and perspective — which recede behind headgear and jewellery to such an extent that the individual persons remain unrecognisable.
In Thresholds (2008–2010) we also see young people, but this time in an apparently dance-like activity. By isolating portions of the scene and spotlighting, features are distilled from their environment — moving around individuals and touching bodies, between lust and pain, hair and sweat. The characteristics highlighted in the photographs refer to adolescent development, which is accompanied by an ever-evolving self-image, or body awareness, and shifting need for both closeness and distance. The tactile dimension of these visualised bodies is enacted on the one hand by the cotton fabric of the clothing that clings to the body. On the other hand, the materiality of the pieces themselves and their haptic nature, play a role in this work by the photographer. The prints on different types of paper are partially divided and then stapled together again.
Archival pigment print on bamboo fibre paper
fixed to the wall with nails, 54,6 x 70 cm
“One who, regarding lust and pain, imagines nothing but salacious moans and cries of agony, has not yet understood much. Lust and pain are elementary expressions of life, manifestations of being alive, of life energy — they are the first expressions of subjectivity.”
Elisabeth List
The themes of deformation or even — the pictures were taken in boxing studios — yet the attack on the body are already intimated. Consequently, these form the background for Kurz‘ later works. However, the work Looking and Seeing (2011) falls somewhere in between. Unusual constructions made of magnifying glasses, lenses, wires, and textiles float against a white background. These visual devices, built by the photographer, manipulate the view — restricting or expanding one’s sight in various ways. With these instruments, reflection on the gaze has taken a more concrete form.
A distorted perception can change or even injure a body, shown through Kurz’s works Ungleichgewicht and Supernature — concerning eating disorders and aesthetic plastic surgery. In contrast to the destructive dimension of a judgmental and condemning position, Kurz‘ working method is characterised by the fact that her camera does not seem to evoke an extrinsic view of an object. Her works are poetically located between self-perception and external perspective.
Dr Cora Waschke is an art historian, curator, and author for modern and contemporary art, photography, and architecture. She received her doctorate in 2017 on the subject of transparency and reflection within photography.
