Katja Seib (b. 1989, Düsseldorf) works figuratively, predominantly painting directly onto Belgian linen using photographs on her phone. Through a combination of technologically-mediated imagery, a fascination with surface pattern and texture, and a self-conscious glance back to the histories of her medium, Seib creates works that are simultaneously familiar and strange, combining a subtle interplay of texture and image with deft brushwork and a meticulous attention to detail. In Seib’s new and recent paintings, quotidian depictions of figures alone and intimate pairings of lustful characters are enveloped by a surreal illogic of dreams, creating narrative ambiguities and conjuring slippages between reality and fantasy. Symbols and subjects recur throughout the works, demonstrating a continued exploration of female sexuality and subjectivity.
