Your name
Carolina Krieger
Place of birth
Balneário Camboriú, SC, Brazil
Place where you live now
Camboriú, SC, Brazil
3 words to describe you
amazement, mystery and childhood.
Why do you take pictures?
Because I found in photography a pulsating way of imagining other possible worlds, of proposing reflections on our relationship with nature (visible and invisible), of restoring bridges of connection with the dimension of the brilliance of life, and of creating openings that inspire a more attentive and careful look at the world. These are some of the countless reasons why the photographic gesture has become essential in my life.
Where do you get your inspiration?
From the astonishment of existence, from the look of a dog, from the silence echoing on the back of the night, from a beam of light passing through the leaves of a tree, from the mystery of death, from reading a poem, from the look of a child touching the world for the first time, of long conversations with the mountains, from music evoking the nostalgia of the glades, from cosmic childhood. The material for the creation of my works is born in the small immense everyday events and in the abyssal questions linked to the enigmas of life.
Who are your influences?
Some of my oldest and most recent influences and companions are: Claudia Andujar, Masao Yamamoto, Eustáquio Neves, Breno Rotatori, Lieko Shiga, Rinko Kawauchi, Duane Michals, Albarran Cabrera, Paul Cupido, Francesca Woodman, Catarina Vasconcelos, Andrei Tarkovski and Béla Tarr.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
All my photo essays originate from a central theme. It's as if this theme were the trunk of a tree from which the branch-essays grow. Since childhood I have felt a kind of fascination and fear for the Mystery. This Mystery which surrounds us, inhabits and grounds us. From where we came and where we will return. So, my works orbit around the foundational-experiences through which we access fragments of the Mystery. They are like grooves that open up as the days go by and reveal other dimensions to us. I believe that we can experience them in a moment of intense love or extreme pain, in the process of creating an image, when looking into the eyes of an animal, when contemplating the shine of dust dancing in the air, when entering a forest, or just walking through the streets of a city. In foundational-experiences there is a shift in consciousness. There is a rupture in the world order. A hole in the real. Sometimes such a rupture comes as a bolt of lightning and we find ourselves facing the abyss of Being, a feeling of inadequacy and absolute emptiness occupies every field of vision. At other times we are overcome by the feeling of Unity, of full Presence, where there is no longer a reason. It simply is. The "now is now" of the beautiful film “Perfect Days”, by Wim Wenders.
Foundational-experiences have the potential to make us access the Unknown. The Unknown of existence and concomitantly of ourselves.
What impact would you like your art to have?
I would be happy if my work resonated with people and sparked reflections that I consider urgent and fundamental for the future of our planet, above all to restore the spiritual and respectful relationship with nature, inspired by the knowledge, magic and wisdom of the Original Peoples. Ailton Krenak, indigenous leader, environmentalist, philosopher, poet and Brazilian writer from the Krenak indigenous ethnic group, tells us: "water is not a resource, water is an entity”. I believe that this thought is the heart of true transformation.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
Here I mention works of art that put me in a state of rapture and make me reach the heart of silence. The night sky studded with stars. The paintings of Jaider Esbell. Nina Simone's music. Forests populated by enchanted beings. Photographs by Claudia Andujar. The stones that guard primeval time. The sculptures of Giacometti. The caves. Federico Fellini's films. The sea of incandescent childhood summers. Poems by Isadora Krieger, Daniel Faria, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Paul Valéry, Hilda Hilst, Orides Fontela, José Tolentino de Mendonça. The list is infinite.
Is there anything you want to add?
Just to say thanks.
