Claudia Terstappen studied German Literature and Philosophy at
the Heinrich Heine University and Sculpture and Photography at
the Art Academy in Duesseldorf, Germany and is now a practicing
artist of more than 20 years standing with an impressive string of
international exhibitions, awards and publications to her name. She
has lived and worked in Germany, Great Britain, Spain and the US.
Her artistic work focuses on the interrelationship between religion,
superstition and science in relation to place, culture and time. The
main inspirations for her work have been voyages to Brazil, Colombia,
Canada, Japan, the US (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and
Utah), Iceland and Spain. These destinations were chosen for their
traces of ancient and modern belief systems, mythical stories, holy
landscapes and spiritual thinking. Therefore work and travel have
always been joint elements in her life.
She has a huge collection of religious items from all over the world
that inspire her work. These objects emphasize cross cultural differences
of belief systems. Many objects are charged with special
powers promising to prevent the evil or make wishes come true.
Like her photographs, they are all different and yet address the
same issues: Health, fear, love, fertility, death, success and wealth.
In 2002 her artistic work brought her to Australia. After traveling
in NSW, Central Australia and Queensland she spent numerous
months in remote areas of the Northern Territory such as Kakadu
and Arnhemland. The radical changes of the landscape during the
dry and wet seasons and her growing interest in wildlife saw her
return from Europe many times.
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Claudia Terstappen has been a lecturer at many internationally
recognized universities, including The Slade School of Fine Art,
Goldsmith College, Chelsea School of Art and The Royal College in
London as well as Maryland University, Massachusetts College of
Art and the State University New York. For ten years she directed
Southampton University's Postgraduate program in Barcelona. In
2004 Claudia Terstappen was appointed Professor of Fine Arts at
Monash University and moved to Melbourne
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