KOLJA RASCHKE

In my work DREAMTIME I was inspired by one of the tales about unordinary rock formations in Western Australia. The Pinnacles. Geologically, it is petrified rootage which has been released by erosion over many millennia. The aboriginal people, so it is said among other records, saw in the up to four meters high weathered limestone formations warriors who had become to stone by superhuman powers. The fact that nature produces shapes in which we reflect ourselves and cause us to see the work of a deity or higher intelligence in it, and whose interpretations are directly related to the original questions of our worldview, I regard as a poetry of nature. I spent three weeks in this extraordinary place to follow my personal feelings and capture them in photographs. The term Dreamtime stands originally for the mythology of the Australian Aboriginals and their ethnic religions. But I want to emphasize, that my pictures were created only on the basis of the myths about this place. The title DREAMTIME has to be seen here in a personal interpreted sense that describes the creative ability and the power of imagination of humans in general.

In my work BODIES AND NATURE I reflect human-like images in plants and thereby the connection between human and nature that lies in the origin of life. Effigies of humans are the acme of our self-reflection, from caveman paintings to robotics. In addition, we suggest life and intelligent behavior in characters that are similar to us. That's how our nature is. My pictures remain open for different kinds of interpretation and they invite the viewer to feel empathy for plants and by that to enter into a special form of dialogue with nature.