Claudia Terstappen studied sculpture at the Art Academie Duesseldorf, Germany. She lived and worked in Duesseldorf, London, Barcelona and New York before moving to Australia/Melbourne in 2004.
Read MoreHer work focuses on the way science, belief and myth explain the world around us, challenging strict divisions between reason and imagination, faith and superstition, civilisation and savagery.
Through lens-based media and sculpture she inquires, but also compels a broader and richer imagination of making sense of cultural patterns and human interventions that shape the diversity and continuity of life.
Since living in Australia her work has shifted towards the human impact on the environment. This has urged her to explore extreme weather conditions, the destruction of animal habitat and weed infestations that threaten the Australian flora and fauna.
Her work is held in collections in Australia, Japan, Spain, Germany, France and the US.
Text courtesy Boutwell Schabrowsky.
For her exhibition Loops, towers, ribbons, straps she has created powerful ceramic sculptures which she juxtaposes with woodcuts to create a vibrant dialogue between 2 and 3-dimensional forms.
'In my work I react to specific aspects of my surroundings as found in architecture, or the natural environment. There are often particular shapes, colour combinations or compositions that stay with me, and that later get translated or incorporated into my sculptures....'
