Born 1956 in Cologne, Müller left Germany at the age of 18 and lived for several years in Paris and in South America. Back in Cologne, she caught up on her high school diploma and later studied Anthropology, German and Romance studies at the University of Bonn and at the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano in Puno, Peru.
As an Anthropologist, she conducted research in Bolivia on the traditional use of coca among the Aymara Indians and on the socialization of indigenous children at Lake Titicaca, topics she later pursued as a journalist. Since 1994, she has worked as a filmmaker and author, through which she has received numerous awards for her features, films and documentaries. She published an autobiographical novel about traveling in South America in analog and digital times (Comeback mit Backpack, Piper Verlag). Since 2023, she works as an artist in Berlin.
Artist Statement 2023
“Color is a power which directly influences the soul.“ – Wassily Kandinsky
My abstract acrylic paintings are biographical visual poems inspired by nature. I experience each new work as an exciting journey into unknown territory. It is an attempt to make the nameless visible and – in the next step – find words for it. Some of my paintings are followed by poems.
I paint on small and medium grounds, remaining curious and experimental, intuitively applying layers of colour and playing with shapes. Where I remove paint by scratching, rubbing, sanding, I give space to the past. In this way, the layers engage in a dialogue that reflects my conversation with the colours and memories and prompts me to react. Sometimes the composition suggests a narrative by including photo transfers.
My painting is above all about feelings, expressed in colours and forms, about the contrasts and contradictions, which indeed also make up life. In this way the complexity of my perception and biography finds expression.
Art helps me to understand and further pursue what I love as an anthropologist and filmmaker: leaving my comfort zone, taking risks, discovering foreign cultures and landscapes to gain new perspectives. All this, in full awareness of the fleeting moment and its magic.
Biography
1956 Born in Cologne
1976 Apprenticeship as travel agent
1979 Three years travel agent in Paris
1982 Second-chance education, Cologne College, A-levels
1985 Studied anthropology, German and Romance languages and literature, University in Bonn and Puno, Peru
1994 Master's degree in Anthropology /Germanic Studies/Romance Studies, Bonn
Since 1995
self-employed as author and filmmaker
over 600 short films and 15 long films for ARD, WDR, DW, BBC
Trainer and consultant for the Deutsche Welle Academy in South America and Africa
Artistic career
2007- 2015 Summer Academies:
Alanus University of Art and Society, Alfter/Cologne
Photography and abstract painting with Paul Pollak (abstract painting), Martin Timm (photography), Nola Bunke (photography)
Paul Ulrich (abstract painting and experimental portrait painting)
2000 Workshop: the secret effect of pictures with Dirk Blothner, Cologne
2006 Summer Academy, Creative Writing, Stuttgart
2008 Summer Academy, artists writing screenplays, Stuttgart
2013 Summer Academy, Free Painting with Ray Goetze, Leipzig
2016 Summer Academy, Photography with Wassmuth/ Timm, Ammersee
2013-2020 Founding member of the photography collective "Seven4pics", Bonn
2021 Artist grant Neustart Kultur for "The Art of Angst", website by and for artists on the theme of fear.
2023 Participation in the Creative Visionary Program, Sausalito USA Painting with : Nicholas Wilton, Susan Melrath,
Terri Froelich, Kerry Schroeder, Ann Artz, Stacy Phillips
Since 2023 Freelance artist in Berlin
Awards/Scholarships:
2023: Creative Visionary Program Scholarship, Sausalito USA Painting.
2021: Artist grant Neustart Kultur for "The Art of Angst", Website by and for artists on the theme of fear
Awards (selection):
2003 BdST Journalist Award
2003 IZW Journalism Prize
2003 Isabel Bird Prize
2004 German Business Film Award
2005 Friedrich and Isabel Vogel Foundation Award
2006 Georg-von-Holtzbrinck Prize for Business Journalism
Exhibitions:
Sept 2023 "All Colours", In-Conference-Exhibition, Mind Foundation, Berlin
Nov 2023 “Iluminal”, Pleiades, Praise Studio Berlin-Neukölln
Jan 2024 "Poly:Lux", Art Up Now, Projektraum Bethanien, Berlin
Feb 2024 - April 2024 “Stillleben, Galerie Rotklee, Potbus, Rügen
Collections:
Radio San Gabriel, La Paz
Private: Aix en Provence, Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Paris, Palermo