Darja Eßer is a visual artist. She studied art at the art academies in Dresden and Brussels and completed her studies as a postgraduate student with Prof. Monika
Brandmeier. She is an alumni of the Hans-Böckler-Foundation. Currently she lives and works in Bonn, Germany
Her artistic process is based on an expanded understanding of drawing as a physical and spatial practice and a sensitive approach to the material of paper. Working with Kozo paper and ink, she creates two-dimensional, hand-crafted paper works, sewn transparent objects and papercuts. These elements are thoughtfully arranged on the walls of the exhibition space to establish spatial and conceptual relationships. The paper material detaches itself from its traditional role as a mere image carrier. It becomes a medium that extends into space, transforming the practice of drawing into a sculptural gesture. At the heart of her work lies a phenomenological approach to materality, space, body and the sense of touch. The tactile qualities of the paper material shape both the process of making and the way the installation is experienced. The subtle impressions of the paper, its texture and transparency, the contour of a seam or a loop, unfold a quiet spatial presence. Paper, threads, and ribbons gently respond to movements in the room, set in motion by the slightest air currents. In this way, the works become thresholds between the body, the exhibition space, the present experience, and memory. They evoke the body as an archive of past experiences and as the place where perception begins before language.
Education
2017 — 2020: Meisterschülerstudium, postgraduate studies in Fine Arts with Prof. Monika Brandmeier, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
2016 — 2017: Study of Fine Arts, with a focus on drawing, Brussels Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Belgium
2013 — 2017: Study and diploma in Fine Arts with Prof. Peter Bömmels, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
Awards, Grants and Residencies
2021 — 2024: Studio at Atelierhaus des Bonner Kunstvereins
2023: Villa Empain, Fondation Boghossian, Artist Residency, Brussels, Belgium
2022: Grant by Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn (Absolvent*innenförderung)
2013 — 2020: Scholarship by Hans-Böckler-Foundation
2018: Robert-Sterl-Award 2018 by Sammelstiftung des Bezirkes Dresden Foundation and Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
2018: Grant for publication of an exhibition catalogue by Hans-Böckler-Foundation
2016 — 2017: Grant by the European exchange programme (Erasmus) for a study year at Brussels Royal Academy of Fine Arts
Solo and Two Person Shows
2025: Duo exhibition with Matej Bonić, Raum für Kunst und Natur, Bonn, Germany (Duo)
2023: AKZENT Mind the Gap! Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden, (Germany) (Solo)
2019: My river waits reply, Kunstverein Wolfenbüttel, Wolfenbüttel, Germany (Duo)
2018: Die Freundschaften der Dinge, Hans-Böckler-Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany (Solo)
2018: Eine Stelle in der Welt, Robert-Sterl-Haus, Struppen, Germany (Solo)
2017: Gepäck aus Forest, Kurfürstliches Gärtnerhaus, Bonn, Germany (Solo)
2016: Retourne-moi dans mes propriétés, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany (Duo)
Group Exhibitions (selection)
2025: Kunst ohne Grund. Hängende Intallationen und Skulpturen aus Papier, Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
2025: ...and going on, dr. julius art projects, Berlin, Germany
2025: 50 Jahre 50 Werke, Kunstverein Wolfenbüttel, Wolfenbüttel, Germany
2024: Anonymous Drawings, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
2024: KunstRai, Art Amsterdam mit Gallery Nono, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2024: Monochromes, Gallery Nono, The Hague, The Netherlands
2023: KunstRai, Art Amsterdam, Gallery Nono, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2023: Alles Zeichnung, Atelier Scheuermann, Bonn, Germany
2023: Sommerausstellung, Raum für Kunst und Natur, Bonn, Germany
2022: In Transfer, Gallery Nono, The Hague, The Netherlands
2022: Künstlerbuch VERSCHWINDEN, Oktogon, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
2022: Faszination Papier, Gustav-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm, Germany
2022: Reiter#Stand#Bild or an EQUESTRIAN STATUE, GEH8, Dresden, Germany
2021: Existenz II, Oktogon, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
2020: Thuis/Home - Paper Biennial, Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands
2020: Wohin geht die Reise - Alles ist Wechselwirkung, Künstlerforum Bonn in cooperation with Südtiroler Künstlerbund, Galerie Prisma, Botzen, Italy
2020: Meister 2020, Motorenhalle Dresden, Germany
2020: Meisterklasse Brandmeier, Hygienemuseum Dresden, Germany
2019: Wohin geht die Reise - Alles ist Wechselwirkung, Künstlerforum Bonn in cooperation with Südtiroler Künstlerbund, Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany
2019: Kunst für Humanismus, Lipsiusbau, Dresden, Germany
2018: Now Horizon, Galerie 3, Dresden, Germany
2018: 70 Jahre Grundgesetz, traveling Exhibition for the 70th anniversary of the German Basic Law, Parliament Düsseldorf, Germany
2018: The Dresden Knix, with Jessica Hutchins, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
2018: Existenz I, Oktogon, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
2017: Hotel Liberty - a room that, Halle 14, Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig, Germany
2017: Diplomausstellung, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Germany
2016: Leibnitzreflexe I, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, Germany
2015: Moulin de Lezaff, Brittany, France
Collections
Kunst aus Papier, Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders
Private collections
Publications
2022: Kunsthaus NRW gGmbH, Aachen - Kornelimünster (ed.): Darja Eßer, Kunstmentorat NRW
2022: „Darja Eßer – Ruhe und Konzentration“ text by Laura Gaida publised in Le Flash - cultural magazine of the Rhineland
2021: featured in exhibition catalogue: Diana Lenz-Weber, Gustav-Lübcke-Museum Hamm (ed.): „Faszination Papier - fascination paper“
2020: featured in exhibition catalogue: Museum Rijswijk (ed.): „thuis/home. Papier Biennale/Paper Biennial 2020“
2018: „Darja Eßer, Die Freundschaften der Dinge“ (The friendship of things), solo-exhibition catalogue, 2018, Düsseldorf edited by Darja Eßer