Description
OD Photo Prize 2024 | Shortlisted Artist
Selected by our International Jury from over 1200 submissions
Maria Denise Dessimoz (b.1995) is a Berlin-based artist, born in Athens. She has a master of arts in photography from the UE Faculty of Art and Design in Berlin and a background in environmental engineering. Through photography and mixed media techniques, she explores the subconscious and inner truths by using metaphor and symbolism. Her intense emotional reality has a tremendous effect on her everyday life and plays a motivational role in the creation of images, thus externalizing her inner world. She has exhibited internationally both in group and solo, in different countries such as Germany, Greece, France, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Russia. Currently she is in the process of making her first self-Published book in collaboration with Zoetrope Athens.
Artist Statement | “Intense feelings that derive from unfulfilled desires, become clarity and acceptance through the image. The image is in turn a catalyst for the catharsis that takes place, giving voice to the subconscious. The series “The Inevitable Anguish of Desire” is an ongoing project that started in October 2022 as a healing process to overcome overwhelming emotions that had been affecting the artist’s mental health. In facing these intense thoughts daily, she creates a visual diary, capturing images that correspond to the momentary emotion. In this way, the artist faces her current situation, accepts it, and transforms it. There is experimentation in a variety of mediums such as digital and analog cameras, computer and even the use of phone. Some of the creations are instant snapshots and others are staged ideas born from the early stage of REM sleep. Healing and self-awareness is a complex and painful journey, but ultimately a fulfilling one. Eventually, the fire of the pain becomes the light of consciousness.“ — Maria Denise Dessimoz
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