Christiane Baumgartner’s ‘Prometheus I-III’ & ‘Nordlicht – 6.08pm’

Christiane Baumgartner is best known for her monumental woodcuts based on her own films and video stills, exploring themes of time, place and memory. These works are selected from a set of four prints presented by the Contemporary Art Society in 2023.

Many of Baumgartner’s prints take the form of sequences of images illustrating the same scene, captured moments apart. ‘Prometheus I-III‘ capture different views of the setting sun at the horizon. Whereas ‘Nordlicht 6.08pm‘ is from a group of works that recorded the sun setting through a wooded landscape, over a period of 9 minutes. The fleeting moments of light are slowed down and captured in the time and labour-intensive process of woodcut printing.

“Translating a still image into a woodcut makes the work a powerful instrument demanding an emotional, retinal and physical response. Through my selection and transformation of a single frame, I create a unique woodcut that brings experience and weight to an otherwise unexperienced moment.”

Baumgartner lives and works in Leipzig, Germany. She has exhibited extensively internationally, and her works are held in over fifty public collections including the British Museum, London and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She is represented in the UK by Cristea Roberts Gallery, London.

Photographs on this page courtesy of Sam Parker, UoS Art Collection Team Assistant