In fleeting light – nature between photography and poetry

She describes her photographs as »sfumatographs«: derived from the painting technique sfumato, Ulrike Pichl's works focus on the blurring of colors and shapes. Blurring and deliberate contamination of the camera lens with liquids and grease create an atmosphere characterized by transience. Pichl's impressions of nature remind viewers of moments when they themselves were out in nature, surrounded by it, and bring this special aura back to life. The artist's photographs are signed, one-of-a-kind pieces and are thematically complemented and expanded upon by handwritten poems: »The poems are part of the overall work. Longing, becoming, hoping, loving, brief moments of beauty, darkness, fear, finding and losing oneself—these are the themes I deal with in my texts«, Pichl explains in her artist statement.

Several exhibitions featuring the artist's work will open in November and December of this year. On November 7 at 5 p.m., the opening of the heimART exhibition will take place at the Ministry of Home Affairs in Nuremberg. Fifty-six female artists from GEDOK Franken will present current works of art on topics such as the relationship between humans and nature or human and women's rights. Pichl is represented with her work Held and lifted (pictured above), in which the sky represents the simplicity and at the same time infinite, association-evoking diversity of forms in nature in its constant change. The exhibition closes on November 30.

From November 15, Ulrike Pichl will be represented by the Ostermayr Gallery in Nuremberg. Four selected works, including the poems, will be exhibited for this occasion. Among them is the very personal photograph At the bottom (pictured below), which received an Honorable Mention at the Annual Photography Awards in 2024. On December 5 and 6, two further works will also be on display in a group exhibition at Galerie Helligkeit in Munich, where the artist is also represented.