Dominique Teufen: The Presence of Absence

The exhibition shows works from three different series, in which the artist carries out material-experiments in various ways and with creative skill. With the help of light, which, in addition to the objects, unfolds as an independent sculptural element, Dominique Teufen creates astonishing forms. The newly emerging realities become visible when all components are brought together at the moment of taking the photograph. By investigating the possibilities of the camera’s mechanism and engaging in different processes during production, she challenges the imageries of photography. Through her work she is exploring a field, where reality and illusion lose their specific definition, which confuses the observers understanding of seeing and nurtures questions about the dialectics of truth and perception.

With Teufen’s education in Sculpture and fine Arts, material-experiments make up an important part of her work. Curious and fascinated by photography, she investigates and engages in different processes and mechanisms before she takes her photographs. With her specific use of photography, she not only examines the field of tension between two- and three dimensionality, but also explores the area where reality and illusion lose their specific definition and where different possible realities can be visualized.

Teufen has participated in various solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including at the Christophe Guye Galerie, Zürich, Kunsthalle Wil/St. Gallen as well as Kunstraum Aarau. Furthermore, Teufen has been exhibited with Thomas Ruff, Wolfgang Tillmans and Viviane Sassen, among others at NRW Forum in Düsseldorf, at Museum für Fotografie Berlin and Kunsthalle Darmstadt as part of the group exhibition ‘Bauhaus and Photography’. In connection with the HSBC Photography Award 2019, she was exhibited in the travelling exhibition of the two winners in Paris, Arles, Bordeaux and Metz. She has received numerous awards, including the Vfg. Nachwuchsförderpreis der Fotografie 2013, the Lensculture Emerging Talent Award 2018 and the HSBC Photography Award 2019.

Courtesy of the artist and Christophe Guye Galerie, Zürich