Alexandra Bircken lives and works in Cologne. Her sculptural work and installations stand out with their auratic presence of materials, which often stand in stark contrasts to each other. Plaster molds, metals, waxes, textiles, and other woven materials, as well as fragments of mannequins are being connected to each other. Bircken’s work often references the human body directly by juxtaposing it with elements of its manmade environment, such as machines and devices. As such machines act as a protective cover over human characteristics, they become powerful tools while also creating an effect of alienation. Bircken’s interpretation of the body is one of variable characteristics. It can be male or female, sound or wounded, tender or aggressive – all at the same time and as a metamorphosis of its strengths and fragilities.
Alexandra Birckens work has been shown in Le CEDRAC in Ivry/Paris and Museum Abteiberg (2017), in Kunstverein Hannover (2016). Before there were shows in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2014), in The Hepworth Wakefield (2014), Kunstverein Hamburg (2012), Studio Voltaire in London (2011) and in the Kölnischer Kunstverein (2010).