Between dissolving and becoming

A silhouetted woman who seems to be at the mercy of the gigantic jaws of an indefinable animal - or is she intangible in her shadowiness and can escape with ease? Brave New World is an enigmatic vision, between dream and reality, detached from time. The photo collage comes from Liminal States, the current series by artist Petra Jaenicke, in which she captures intermediate states in images, independent of any temporal or local points of reference. »My photo collages are not just images – they are emotional landscapes, reflective of internal states, evoking feelings and perceptions that resist clear definition«, explains the artist in her artist statement.

Petra Jaenicke, who studied design, photography and education, has been working as a freelance artist since 2016. She has already presented her work and attracted attention from New York to London, Paris and Singapore. At the Tokyo International Photo Awards in 2022, for example, she won the Silver Prize for Fine Art with her series Stay Loose.

The Stay Loose series was created in 2021 as a tribute to Joseph Beuys on his 100th birthday. The images are approximations of subjective visions and remind us of the creative potential in every human being through the simultaneous positive and negative depiction of the female figures. The photo collages move away from the naturalism inherent in photography and depict the invisible and its immense influence on people's realities. Jaenicke calls her experimental approach, which critically questions the perception of reality, »deconstructivist photography«.

»Central to my artistic philosophy is the belief that reality is inherently subjective«, says Jaenicke. Shaped by experiences, memories and emotions, people's perception of the world appears merely objective and is in fact a constant interpretation. The artist makes the expanded levels of perception visible using various creative means such as duplications, abstractions and digital overpainting. Her collages deconstruct reality – and reconstruct it again, from an extremely subjective position that explores alternative forms of representation in an innovative way. All traces of the seemingly objective visible in the photographs that form the basis of the collages are thus removed. »In this light, photography transcends mere representation and asserts itself as a genuine art form«, says Jaenicke, describing her working method.

Stay Loose was followed by the series When Life Became Elusive (2023) and The Wall (2024). When Life Became Elusive is about finding courage and hope in the face of life's obstacles, seen from a female perspective. The images describe intermediate states of people who have been thrown into life situations and are searching for a solution that is still hidden. The Wall addresses the ambiguity of inner walls, which can protect but also block paths. These walls are part of the changeable identity that is poetically visualized. With this series, Jaenicke invites viewers to reflect on their own and collective boundaries.

In addition to presentations at exhibitions and fairs, Jaenicke's photographic work has also been published in magazines, including Artdoc Photography Magazine. Most recently, a feature on her work appeared in Arts To Hearts Magazine (issue 09/2025), an international art magazine focusing on feminist art and art by women.