I make my art with passion – on just a few square centimetres. With great attention to detail, I focus on what is actually monumentally insignificant.
I collect trivial remnants wherever I go and wherever I stand. The last questionable crumbs, picked up from sidewalks and forest paths, are the perfect material for me. From this I develop a panopticon of unique characters that are brought to life in my works as confusingly real-looking insects or tiny bird creatures.
In short: I stick weird things on paper. So we could end the discussion about my artistic work here
– or you could join me on a journey of discovery – into the [UN]apparent worlds of my miniature collages.
Miniature collages as a poetic statement for mindfulness and appreciation
I am Magdalena Hohlweg, a freelance artist in the Weserbergland. I compose miniature collages with tiny found objects – smashed porcelain, dried seed capsules, lost plastic remnants or insect wings – that put the inconspicuous in the spotlight. What would otherwise fall through the cracks is given a voice in my work. Or rather: into the picture.
My work celebrates what is often overlooked – and shows: What we consider valuable is valuable. The works stand for respect, devotion and a new perception of the everyday. Sometimes quietly, sometimes obliquely – inner attitude in miniature format.
My collages are a poetic wink for all those who like to look – a declaration of love for the purposelessly beautiful, a plea for the supposedly banal. In short: a quiet interjection in the din of everyday life – gladly on 10 × 10 cm.
After years of different jobs, my own ceramics workshop, a foray into the IT industry and other life vicissitudes, I now live in Bad Pyrmont and am back to what really inspires me: the fragile life of things. In my blog, I write about art, found objects, life – and what happens in between.
Some time ago, I would not have claimed that my art was political. But now it’s important to say it clearly:
With my work, I stand for diversity, equality and respectful coexistence – for what holds our democracy together at its core.
Through idiosyncratic arrangements and playful reinterpretation, tiny, seemingly trivial fragments unfold an unexpected life of their own – as in this bird habitat on approx. 6 x 6 cm.
Withered flower buds and tomato greens, insect wings, press studs, seeds and other monumentally insignificant remnants come together – and form new small spaces of meaning alongside withered leaves.
Short biography
In the 1990s, I started my ceramic workshop in Dorsten as a self-taught artist, specializing in sculptures using the build-up technique. From 2000 to 2007 I ran a computer store before moving to Hamburg in 2008. Since then I have been working as a freelance artist again.
My series of “[UN]seeming Worlds” has won several audience awards and was nominated for the Fürstenwalde Art Prize in 2018. My miniature collages have been shown in Florence and Venice, among other places. After the Corona break, I presented my work at the Bielefeld Natural History Museum and the Bad Pyrmont and Bad Arolsen museums. Since 2018 I have been living and working in the beautiful Weserbergland, in Bad Pyrmont.
The [UN]apparent worlds grow and I develop them further – I expand them, they become more multi-layered and complex. In the process, I’m constantly stumbling across bizarre finds that absolutely have to be included in the picture. To be honest, I’m curious to see what happens next. An end? Not in sight, rather the opposite!
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