Anne-Katrin Spiess

My work straddles conceptual and practical aspects of Land Art. My love of landscapes has grown into a deep concern for the ecology of the planet, which is reflected in some of my more socially engaged projects that directly address climate change, and topical environmental issues. As my work is generally ephemeral, I document it through photography, video, and text.

I create temporary installations and performance works mostly in wide-open landscapes, chiefly in the deserts of the American West. I can work in these extremely isolated locations thanks to an Airstream trailer which is my traveling studio and hermitage for weeks at a time. I use a combination of materials found in nature, such as soil, branches, and water, together with industrial materials I carefully introduce to contain or support them. I often use my body as an implement also, and the space takes on significance through the actions performed in it. My practice is a way of exploring solitude and of becoming completely immersed in and with the land.

As an ecological-artist, I make installations which address urgent environmental issues. I have made work about trash, desertification, deforestation, and I am currently intensely involved in projects addressing the global single use plastics crisis. The aim of my current “Death by Plastic” project, in which my body rests in a clear plexiglass casket covered by single use plastics, is both to attract attention to the single use plastics problem and to suggest ways to move forward.

Anne-Katrin Spiess, (b. 1968, Lugano, Switzerland) creates site-specific installations and performances that often address ecological concerns. Her works have been exhibited at Wave Hill, Bronx, NY; Exit Art, New York, NY; Abingdon Art Center, Jenkintown; PA, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME amongst others. Recent exhibitions include: Guemgang Nature Art Biennale, Republic of Korea, 2020; Arte Laguna Exhibition, the Arsenale, Venice, Italy, 2021; Art that Matters to the Planet, Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY, 2022; Points of Return, A la Luz, Umbrella Arts Center, Cpncord, MA, 2023; In the Time of Climate Change, University of Hawaii at Hilo, The Wailoa Center.

She has been an artist in residence at Labverde Art Immersion Program, Amazon, Brazil and Conemara Foundation, Dallas, TX. Spiess’ work has been published internationally and is held in private collections. She earned her BFA from Parsons School of Design, New York, NY. Spiess lives and works in New York, NY.