How Artist Vanessa Wenwieser is Capturing Women’s Strength Through her Art Photography

Vanessa Wenwieser is a fantastic artist born in Munich, Germany, specializing in fine art photography. In this interview, she discusses her experiences showcasing her work worldwide, including in New York and Venice. Her art focuses on powerful depictions of women, exploring deep emotions and raw vulnerabilities. Vanessa also shares her inspirations, like creating a new narrative for women in art and capturing life’s fleeting moments. This interview gives a personal look into Vanessa’s creative journey and the stories behind her beautiful and evocative pieces.

Vanessa Wenwieser is an artist born in Munich, Germany, who graduated with a Fine Art Photography degree from the Glasgow School of Art. Her artworks have been widely exhibited in 2023, virtually with groups and in several physical exhibitions: Boomer Art Gallery, the Marvelous Art Gallery, Holy Art Gallery, Capital Culture House, and ARTBOX.PROJECTS. The year 2024 started off with a big bang; her work was shown on a big display board in Times Square, New York, and she contributed to the physical group show at “Surreal Salon 16” in the Baton Rouge Gallery, Louisiana. In April, she took part in a group exhibition by ARTBOX.PROJECTS in Venice during the Biennale Arte di Venezia at an Art Space, near the official Biennale Venice, with ARTBOX.PROJECTS, she also took part in an exhibition at the Basel airport on the 13th -16th of June and will take part in the summer in a show at the train station in Zürich. She looks forward to an exhibition in Manhattan this summer, 5th – 15th July, organized by Capital Culture House in the El Barristo art space, and one in Tokyo, Japan, organized by Artnumber 23 at the Design Festa Gallery.

Her artworks have been included in several books; firstly, by the Marvelous Art Gallery and in Sinead McGuigan’s collection of poems called “Unbound” and her artwork adorns the front and back cover of her new book called “The Muse of Restless Nights” as well as several inside it too. Her artwork was also featured in books by Arts to Hearts “101Art Book; Floral edition” and one named “Colour.” Several magazines published her art: Aesthetica Magazine, The Flux Review, The Circle Quarterly Art Review, Marvelous Art Gallery Magazine, 365 Art Plus, the Goddess Magazine, and on the cover of Art Seen Magazine, by the curators Salon, including an interview and more of her artwork inside, The Arts to Hearts magazine and in a special edition of Women United Art Magazine, Winner of the digital awards 2023. She has also received several art prizes: three from Artrepreneur’s open calls, one from Capital Culture House, two from Mozaik Philanthropy, Winner of the Digital Awards for the Women United Art Prize 2023, and from the Marvelous Art Group an honourable mention in 2024.

Throughout Vanessa’s artwork she allows the female figure to blossom, to transform, to shine within the darkness or floating in a sea of flowers. She shows how beauty and strength can be present in the most delicate forms. In the series ‘Nocturnal Gestures’, Vanessa uses painterly and gestural devices to abstract the image and using monotone red colour, giving it a cocooned and emotional response. It feels we are there with the subject and up close and personal. Nothing else matters in the world, times stands still and one is transfixed by the beauty and the delicate symbols these hands appear to be painting in the red mist of blossoms. In the red and green artworks, Vanessa manipulates these complementary colours to illuminate the darkness. The green represents the physical part and the red is the metaphysical and Vanessa tries to digitally paint what is fleeting and ephemeral, be it a glow, a vibe or thoughts and wings, in order to try describe what is not really there and what can just be imagined or felt. Vanessa’s images are transformative and evanescent; describing the innermost emotions that feel like the flicker of ember in the darkness of night, they dance in beautiful tones of red and then are gone. They speak of life, the cycle of life and the eclipsing of time and the appearance and then disappearance of delicate objects….either way, always that moment before metamorphosing or blossoming. She expresses hopes and dreams, time standing still and thoughts spiralling round and round, of visions and reflections dancing in circles and then dissolving into nothingness, into the darkness where they came from. They are magical, beautiful and only half of this world. Blossoms in the night.

1. Vanessa, your art often puts women at the centre and shows them as powerful. What inspired you to make this a key theme in your art?

Being a woman and an artist, I was incensed about the way women have been portrayed in art throughout history, always one dimensional from the male gaze. I was sick and tired of this and wanted to put female stories on the map and start creating a different narrative in which half the population isn’t there just for decoration but to tell their stories to let out their pain and to understand life from a female perspective and how multilayered and talented and strong they are. An inspiration for this is many of my incredible female friends who are artists. They inspire me each and every day, as well as family; one can recuperate from hard times like women, they are incredible, and their stories need to be told

I think if you don’t know the darkness, you don’t appreciate the light as much.

Vanessa Wenwieser

2. Your work explores deep emotions and strong feelings. How do you capture these raw emotions in your art, and what do you hope people feel when they look at your pieces?

Yes, I’m a very passionate person and like to portray this in my art; I try to express these feelings, emotions, and vulnerabilities by describing what is inside, on the outside, literally on their skin, either by being tattooed by flowers and nature or by having wounds and cracks in their skin, where new life grows from or wings or arrows. There are so many symbolic ways to express feelings and pain; the naturalness and rawness mean it’s not hidden behind fabric or other such items; it’s them at their most vulnerable and raw state, showing the world what they feel, what I feel too, hoping others can connect to this and make them feel and think. Our consciousness connecting

3. You’ve shown your art worldwide, from New York to Tokyo to Milan. How do these different places influence your artwork?

I guess I choose different pieces sometimes for different places; the ones you mentioned there, of course, are incredibly impressive; I think in the USA, they are often more open to photography and digital art, being a newer country and more open to newer things. I have a particular love for Japan and their way of thinking and simplicity and black and red, which I think one can find in my art and the philosophy of Wabi Sabi, finding beauty in imperfection. I relate to this strongly and love the very textured feel of my art and painterly. Milan, well, Italy, is amazing, the bedrock of our ancient civilization, which I am very drawn to. This is why I often include stories from myths and legends from Greece and Rome. I also love the dark and impenetrable forest of my alpine homeland and the folk stories that come from there. I could go on and on. I love traveling and experiencing new cultures and it’s not always the bigger cities, I often enjoy the smaller and less known places, they might have been culturally more important in former days. I love to explore with my camera and in doing so I learn and it affects how I see and make art, everything is stored in memories and comes out in my art.

4. You quoted Frida Kahlo saying, “I want to be inside your darkest everything.” How does this idea fit with the stories you tell in your art?

I think Frida Kahlo’s quote spoke to me very strongly on several levels. It speaks of the dark space I often leave in my images, my room for thought, the physical darkness that I would like to share with the viewer; then there is the tone of my work and the colours, even though they are colourful, these colours are on the dark side. Then, on the metaphysical level, the themes, thoughts, and stories that inhabit my work are often of a dark nature, such as the circle of life, women that have gone through hard times, that have been broken, all the way to touching themes of mortality. I think if you don’t know the darkness, you don’t appreciate the light as much. When I quote Frida by saying, “ I want to be in your darkest everything,” I mean I too would like to be in people’s darkest thoughts and dreams, to share this common humanity and try to strive for answers together, these themes are so interesting and important, at the same time I encourage hope, “the light at the end of the tunnel” but without roaming through the darkness, I think you will never find your answers or light.

I think for artists, everything we see and experience is in our computers (our brains), and it will affect what we compose.

Vanessa Wenwieser

5.  You often mix storytelling with visual art. How do you develop the stories behind your pieces, and why are they essential to your work?

It is true I do; I am often influenced by stories from myths and legends or films or real life, but often, my ideas and stories just suddenly pop up in my dreams or even daydreams; they are like spirits that visit me, and I have visions. However, I think for artists, everything we see and experience is in our computers (our brains), and it will affect what we compose.

6. You’ve been to many exhibitions online and in person. How do these different formats change the way people see your art? Do you have a preference?

I think it’s important to be in physical exhibitions, too, as nothing beats seeing the art in real life and interacting with it and maybe even the artists. However, these online exhibitions where you can visually walk through are amazing tools for artists to keep costs down and make the work viewable by anyone worldwide; it has opened incredible opportunities to see and see art that you might not have seen otherwise. I still find it so mind-blowing to be able to see art from the other side of the world, places you have never been.

Vanessa Wenwieser’s art is a beautiful blend of storytelling and raw emotion. Her work challenges old narratives and celebrates the strength of women. From her beginnings in Munich to her international success, Vanessa’s dedication to her craft shines through in every piece. Her art encourages us to appreciate life’s fleeting moments and the powerful impact of creativity on our understanding of ourselves and the world. To learn more about Vanessa, click the following links to visit her profile.