Saskia Krafft

Saskia Krafft grew up in Germany as the daughter of a theater wardrobe designer and a technician draftsman. She was raised traveling in a VW bus along the Atlantic Coast of the Netherlands and France. During her studies in Germany and later as a Fulbright Scholar in the United States, she traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Saskia Krafft started exploring the themes of traveling, being in transit, and a search for belonging. As an Artist-in-Residence during the A-Z West Institute of Investigative Living, she felt deeply inspired by the landscapes of the American West, the desert, and the alternative ways of living as an artist. In recent years she has migrated between Germany, Los Angeles, and is currently living and working in New York City. 

Statement

I create work that weaves together stories of belonging, migrations, and the relationships we form and leave behind. My artwork explores our inner worlds formed by diverse habitats, referenced by plasma cut steel tracings that form the bedrock of our psychological experiences. Like layers of sediment, these strata come together as evidence of the past and present. Glazed ceramic platelets form patterns across expanses of silk organza seeking harmony and a sense of home.

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EDUCATION

2019

Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts, Columbia University, New York, NY

Fulbright Scholarship, LeRoy Neiman Fellowship, Andrew Fisher Scholarship, Visual Arts Grant

2016

Bachelor of Art in Drawing, University Of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany (DE)

2015

Shenkar College of Art, Ramat Gan, Israel (spring)

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD (fall)

2014

Fine Arts Foundation Year, University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, DE

2009-2012

Theater Studies, BA coursework, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, DE

EXHIBITIONS

2023

Genius Loci, Charles Moffett Gallery, NYC

Seeded Smolder, Mt Baldy Visitor Center, Mt Baldy, CA (w/Melanie Gandyra)

2022

Many More, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA

Migrate, Clark County Wetlands Park, Las Vegas, NV (w/ Tiffany Lin)

2021

Arterial, Bullfrog Biennial, Goldwell Open Air Museum, Rhyolite, NV (w/ Tiffany Lin)

Zoom Zone, Mineta San Jose International Airport, San Jose, CA (permanent installation)

Tarot Trip, Museum Langes Tannen, Uetersen, DE

Almost Endless, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona, PA

2020

Making A Way, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN

Let's Face It, Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, CA

2019

The Waste Land, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY

A Crack In Everything, In Response, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY

Peace Is Power, Water Event, Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig, Leipzig, DE

Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition, Wallach Art Gallery, New York, NY

UNnatural, Kleine Humboldt Galerie, Berlin, DE

Small Phenomenon, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY

Daddy's Books, Drury Gallery, Marlboro College, Marlboro, VT

Anthrocenes, Little Berlin, Philadelphia, PA

2018

Museum of Values, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, DE

Eco-Connectivity, Thaer Institute at Humboldt University, Berlin, DE

feel that other day running underneath this one, Times Square Space, New York, NY

Home, Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Textile Jahresgaben, Kleppart - Cultural Sciences Gallery, Paderborn, DE

Printfest, International Print Center (IPCNY), New York, NY

Codes, Williamsburg Public Library, New York, NY

Reading Room, Life Lessons Garage, Brooklyn, NY

Chasing Color, TEDxColumbiaUniversity, Low Library, New York, NY

Performing The Library, Butler Library, New York, NY

Re-Art 21: This Is Not Here, Pfizer Building, Brooklyn, NY

MFA 1st Year Show, Wallach Art Gallery, Lenfest Center for the Arts, New York, NY

2017

Cartography of Becoming Immaterial, Kleppart Gallery, Paderborn, DE (solo)

Draw/Boston, Sandra and David Bakalar Gallery, Boston, MA

Printfest, International Print Center (IPCNY), New York, NY

The Tyranny Of Common Sense, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, New York, NY

Et Tu, Art Brute?, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY

Elephant And Castle, 2025 Art and Culture, Hamburg, DE

Höhlen von Elephanta, Raum Linksrechts, Hamburg, DE

The Impossible Order, Center for Contemporary History, Wall Memorial Institute, Berlin, DE

2016

Dumbo, UFO Gallery, Hamburg (duo w/ Silke Weißbach)

How Can We Communicate With Light, Pioneer Works, Red Hook, NY

Salon In The Mill, Arts, Letters & Numbers, Averill Park, NY

Zur Ästhetik von Geschichte(n), 51th German Historian Day, University of Hamburg, DE

Utopien für Stadtmenschen von Heute, Intern. Festival Kampnagel, Faktor, Hamburg, DE

Eins Eins Zwei, BA Ottensen Project Space, Hamburg, DE (duo)

2015

Parts To Whole - Interdisciplinary Printmaking, MICA Main Gallery, Baltimore, MD

Holzschnitt im Künstlerhaus, Frise Gallery, Hamburg, DE

Zur Hälfte Schwarz, Gallery Speckstrasse, Hamburg, DE

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

The Knight Foundation Art + Research Center, ICA Miami, FL (remote)

A-Z West - Institute of Investigative Living, Joshua Tree, CA

Museum of Lithographic Art, Tidaholm, Sweden

Goethe Institute Paris, France

Arts, Letters & Numbers, Averill Park, NY

Artist House Lauenburg, Lauenburg at the Elbe, DE

Café Anxiety Drawing Club, Chapter Two: Deep Drawers, by Joeun Kim Aatchim

COLLECTIONS

In Response Archive, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY

Permanent History Collection, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA

PUBLIC SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS / VISITING ARTIST

Museum Langes Tannen, Uetersen, DE

University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, DE

Maryland Institute College of Art, Interdisciplinary Sculpture, Baltimore, MD

Columbia University, New York, NY

Center for Social Innovation, New York, NY

2025 Art and Culture e.V., Hamburg, DE

AWARDS / GRANTS / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

2022

Artist-in-Residence, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Finalist

Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL, Nominee

Artists to Watch, Ortega y Gasset, Brooklyn, NYC

2021

Mulert Award, Fulbright Germany, Nominee, German-American Fulbright Alumni Association

2020

Goldbek Scholarship, Hamburg, DE, Nominee

2019

Morty Frank Fellowship through Columbia University, New York, NY

Summer Residency Fund through Columbia University, New York, NY

Dedalus MFA Fellowship in Painting and Sculpture, Nominee

2018

Quadrille Ball Scholarship, Germanistic Society of America

18-19

Andrew Fisher Fellowship, Columbia University, New York, NY

Glasier Scholarship through Columbia University, New York, NY

2017-2018

Fulbright Scholarship, German-American Fulbright Commission

LeRoy and Janet Neiman Scholarship, Columbia University New York, NY

2017-2019

Visual Arts Scholarship, Columbia University, New York, NY

2018

Dean's Travel Grant, Columbia University, New York, NY

Workshop Scholarship, Urbanglass, Brooklyn, NY

2015

PROMOS-Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Karl H. Ditze Foundation, International Mobility Support Fund

State

NY

Country

USA