10 Questions with Monika Katterwe

Monika Blanka Katterwe, born in Luckenwalde (Germany), has studied Mathematics, Art, Education, and Psychology at the University of Applied Science in Potsdam, the Humboldt University in Berlin, the University of Potsdam, and the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. Additional to her past studies at the Universities, she has taken part in the Evening Academy, the open Art Berlin, and individual workshops to develop her photographic skills to a higher level.

As principal teacher, she has worked long-term at various educational institutions, but since 2016 her interest has been focused on photography as an artistic form of expression. So, she began to work as an artistically scientific photographer in 2017, and since then, her works have been presented at various international exhibitions. Between her international presence, she focused more strongly on being successfully established in the German art and science scene. An important step in this direction was the honorable nomination as Ambassador of the MINT Community “create Future”.

www.Monika-Blanka-Katterwe.com | @MoniKatterwe

ARTIST STATEMENT

Since 2016 Monika has been working as an artistic-scientific photographer. The basis is nature observations, experiments, and studies of scientific literature. Using her many years of experience and knowledge in interdisciplinary project work, she deals more intensively with light's nature and characteristics in her independent activity. The Astrophysical Institute in Potsdam offered her the opportunity to use their library on specific Thematic aspects. Monika is primely focused on the nature and characteristics of light. An OWN Special collection on the history of photography and the associated research enabled her to appropriate different photographic techniques.

Together with master photographer Rainer Jordan, Monika was able to try this out in his studio. Since then, she has been developing her own form of visualization of scientific knowledge in the form of experimental photography.
Using the Tyndall effect, Monika started by visualizing the light rays in different media. Observing the interaction of light with crystals, the Artist's attention was drawn to specific connections which led to experiments with self-made photo plates. As a result, the first representative photograph of this work was on display in Paris at GESTE 2018. The question of the visual connections that Monika observed, in reality, led her to comparative considerations of human light perception and processing with that of insects. Since then, Monika has been experimenting with different types of light and optical grids. The first results of these experiments were on view in Venice as part of the Border Festival.

Inevitably, the experiments also led to an examination of the structure of space. She questions her observations on the formation of space in the fluid through the comparative analyses with scientific publications on this topic. Historical patterns inspire Monika for her own geometricizations of complex relationships. In parallel with the photographic visualization, she is working on a spatial model. A tiny spatial differential and its integration into more complex contexts is her current object of study. From the study of the associated properties, she intends to build an energy model to explain the properties and nature of light. The first photographic works in this context are currently shown at Rossocinabro gallery in Rome.

Advances in her work require the possibility of using more powerful computers and more direct exchange with scientists. Therefore, the current projects are accompanied by geoscientifics, among them representatives of GEOUNION ALFRED-WEGENER-STIFTUNG, and archaeologists.

INTERVIEW

First of all, could you tell us a little more about your background? You come from science, how did you begin making art?

Since my childhood, I have enjoyed creating artistic objects with different materials and spent a large part of my time painting, drawing, and making pottery in the behavior of nature.
My early environment gave me the input when I was growing up to study art or design. But I was also very interested in astronomy, mathematics, geometry, and nature itself. My father aroused this interest because he skillfully answered all my questions during our tours in nature. His special interest was applied mathematics.
Choosing one part as the direction of my studies was very difficult. Moreover, when my mother died when I was sixteen years old, I began to struggle with my studies. All my plans seemed shattered. Since then, my study wish has swung between a profession in caring for people, astrophysics, or design. However, helping people in need grew more and more important for me. So I didn't only follow my course of studies by accident and began to build a special connection between social activities with science, mathematics, and art.
Working as a teacher for a long time, I had the special possibility to explore the parts of nature together with young people and have the experience of developing the artistic skills to visualize our surroundings in team working. I wouldn't like to miss this creative time with the youth. My parallel studies at the universities as an adult offered some more possibilities to get into discourse with scientists to deepen analytics of my explorations of nature and gain new insights into scientific work. In multidisciplinary projects with students, we use art to present our knowledge. The connection of art with science in a creative process was all the time present and is one of the basics for my work as an artist now.

What do you wish you knew about contemporary art before you go?

Oh, that is an interesting question. Working with young people in making art in school was profiling. There, the creative aspects of making art for the communication process were the goal of our art classes, but nobody developed thoughts related to arts and business. That skill I wish I would know before I got started as an artistic and scientific photographer, or better not.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspects of your work do you pay particular attention to?

If a topic arouses my interest, I like to discover, at first, the networks to collect information and delimit the highest borders. In following my special research, I apply to current scientific publications of Universities and leading industrial businesses, comparing them with older literature. If it is possible to discuss the topic with the special scientist, we can select together the leading throughs and begin some experiments for an explicit exploration. If we are lucky, we find a leading hint to special problems. My inspiration lets me start a creative play with objects and different forms of lights in a correlation of similarities between dimensions of viewing. With the photographic instrument as optical eyes, this process opens up some considerations to special arrangements that are useful for a purposeful visualization. Sometimes the change can give a new additional direction to the creation. The surroundings are lost in these moments, and it is important. Only the inspiration based on knowledge leads this process and offers the viewer to go into a special universe of their own feelings and observations. I also pay particular attention to the aspects of individual variability and the tradition of international incunabulum for pleasant legibility too. So we can activate the bird swarm principle for global communication on special topics of interest.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

The inspiration for my work spring comes from my long-term interest in discovering different characteristics of the light and coloring, especially in crystals; for mathematical problems, the topic of the historical development of mining and using lawn iron in my hometown; requests for the accompaniment of extern companies and supporting their ideas with my team to a successful presentation or the topics of some open calls for application, only to name some important sources.

You work with photography, and you analyze the "movement of polarized artificial light in contrast to polarized sunlight ". How did you come up with this idea?

These analyses are based on the request for the accompaniment of the "Kulturverein Fröhden/ Markendorf e.V." to design some places in their villages, such as parks with large old boulders found there and the following development of this project. One place was wisely planned to present a sun clock, but the observation of this place showed that there are only 2 hours maximum of direct sunlight every day. So I began to research how to use the polarisation patterns in the sky or the polarised light as the insects do. The idea of the construction of a light pointer under the use of some special crystals began to grow. 
I had the possibility to explore the speed of polarized sunlight in the clear sky with master photographer Rainer Jordan in Berlin under the use of a polarising filter. These results contributed to explaining my observations and assumptions about the role of polarized light in exposing my own photographic plates to sunlight. The polarized sunlight enabled mapping of the shadows of crystals, whereas other materials only have triggered flow effects at the emulsion. An example of these handmade photo plates based on the knowledge about the earliest photographs was shown with the GESTE in Paris in 2018. 
But the full reaction effects in crystals with polarized light can only be interpreted via a multi and interdisciplinary approach. Very fascinating to read is the script "Himmelsnavigation bei Insekten" by Rüdiger Wehner, who offers the possibility to better understand the astronomical navigation of Cataglyphis, a desert ant. Our project's construction and functionality of their compound eyes are of special interest. 
I found many stimuli about the special properties and combinations in the crystal lattice in the writings of "Polarisationsoptik" by Dr. Hanns Haas, in combination with the discussion on the differences and similarities between effects such as dispersion, dichroism, suspension, interference, birefringence, optical activity and other related to color phenomena. I have also started this artistic and scientific exploration because I had observed that the technical polarized lights work more effectively in the fields of coloring. But this is the first step to activating global communication on this special topic. 

In your statement, you reference early 21st-century art, such as Franz Marc, Robert Delaunay, and Futurists Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla. How do you incorporate these references into your art?

I like Franz Marc's way of visualizing the crystalline structure of animals and their surroundings very much. In my paintings during my studies in Berlin, I was inspired by this special view. His interpretation of the circle of color based on the combination of female and male, and the pure force of nature impressed me. My additional visit to the Goetheanum in Dornach gave me a deep impression of the aspects behind his pictures and many other artists related to him. I also find exciting the more expressive paintings in observation of the big city life through the eyes of Delaunay. Both modern painters gave me a particular basis of combination and interpretation of coloring, and a connection to philosophical aspects that would be understood around the globe. The dynamical interpretation of movings through a combination of splitting parts and wavy lines in the works of the futurists offers me some special ways of integrating the topic of moving to expand the dimensionality in my own works. 

Is there anything else you would like to experiment with, both thematically and technically? 

That are many things. But for now, I found, in parallel to the mineralogist, a special effect of coloring in connection to the crystalline structure. They are combined with special inner borders and additional plane areas. In speaking with the mineralogist, we will explore this effect more closely by using the technical possibilities at the University.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about? 

In the field of research on the formation, mining, and use the turf iron in the past, I am currently exploring a special area in the company of a leading regional archaeologist. I previously discovered archaeologically relevant objects on the topic that opened up exciting new perspectives on early settlements, and I am now working on the reconstruction of an early form of electrical lamp. In the future, I hope to connect my business successfully with more scientific projects. 
But a special part of my work is expanding the project "Mathematical breakdance". Therefore, I prepared my own system for mining and selling my first NFTs. I will put out the first one soon, and you can look forward to this possibility. 

What do you hope to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life?

I would like to successfully present my works in Spain and Germany and establish my artistic and scientific photography business more closely. For my personal life, I hope to preserve my health and trust in the glad coincidence.

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you!

If you want to be informed more closely, you can use this link.