Bio graphydiversityrhythm

Cornelia Gillmann

Artist, Photographer & Nature Educator

Between photography, textiles, mixed media, and multimedia, a practice emerges that weaves together identity, vulnerability, and ecological presence.

As a National Park Ranger and nature educator, field knowledge from the Danube Wetlands (Donau-Auen) and March Wetlands flows directly into research, material choices, and image construction. As a survivor of trauma, my focus is on making healing and resilience visible – without pathos, with precise emotionality.

Nature as Mirror & Counterpart

During phases of severe depression, nature became a lifeline. Regular connection with landscape, water, and vegetation carried me, proved healing, and restored agency. For me, nature appears as a mirror of the inner life – both healing and destructive – a trace back to our origin that nourishes, challenges, and makes responsibility tangible.

Motivation & Stance

My aim is to create works that move, unsettle, and shift perspectives. Emotional depth is method, not effect: it is meant to prompt reflection and open spaces for change. I intentionally break stigmas around mental health and gender roles – images as a counter-design to shame, cliché, and silence, open to queer and inclusive readings.

Professional Photography & Perception

Years of experience as a professional photographer sharpened my observation, analytical work, and sense for emotional impact and response. I can purposefully perceive people’s feelings, anticipate reactions, and look beneath performative masks – always trauma-sensitive, with consent and a respectful process.

Natural Knowledge as Foundation

Ranger and education know-how shape the ethics and aesthetics of production: site-specific research, species knowledge, respectful handling of materials, and the integration of local ecosystems of the Danube Wetlands—from set design to plant-based textile dyeing.

Themes

At the center is the relationship to nature, healing and destructive at once. Landscape, water, and vegetation act as mirrors of the inner life: growth, decay, cycles, regeneration. For me, this connection points to origin and responsibility.

  • Landscapes as a bridge to imagination: Physical topographies become projection surfaces for inner images; from them arise fundamental questions of existence, belonging, and change.

  • Ambivalence & emergence: Ambiguity is not a side effect but a principle. Processes of formation remain visible; series invite reflection and allow the audience to co-create meaning.

  • Beauty & violence: Between moving grace and latent, cold violence, friction sharpens perception – a disquieting beauty that demands reflection rather than consumption.

  • Illusion over inventory: Images invite suggestive perception; reality is not catalogued but staged as a question.

  • Audience involvement: Encounters at eye level – at times participatory or physically experiential – so perception tips from passive looking into active thinking and empathising.

  • Everyday life as a point of departure: Environments, routines, and personal experiences are transformed and renegotiated within present-day conflicts (ecology, mental health, gender roles).

Practice & Technique
  • Photography – staged & documentary: Conceptual setups with precise lighting, shifts in perspective, and symbolic props; in parallel, a documentary line focused on natural structures (floodplain forest, water surfaces, sediments, micro-reliefs).

  • Textile & object: Handcrafted costumes, objects, and sets provide materiality, context, and tactile depth.

  • Multimedia & space: Installative presentations, video, and sound create immersive situations and involve visitors situationally or physically.

  • Illusion & suggestion: Instead of merely depicting factual reality, a constructed perception emerges, via reflections, shifts of focus, controlled image ruptures, and symbolic placements that activate the imagination.

  • Process & ambiguity: Repetition and variation make becoming visible, keep meanings open, and deliberately intensify wonder.

  • Form/function follows content: Means and modes of presentation are subordinated to the conceptual intent – participatory elements, instructions, or responsive setups are used only where they carry meaning.

  • Transformation of the everyday: Field notes, found objects, and quotidian items are re-encoded into image, textile, or space – as a bridge between immediate life and artistic narrative.

  • Post-production: Digital editing is precise and restrained – used to guide the image rather than conceal; authenticity is the measure, not the effect.

Collaboration & Exhibition

Works have been shown nationally and internationally; collaborations with curators, institutions, and interdisciplinary teams range from exhibitions and installations to workshops and educational/engagement formats.

Inquiries & Projects: Portfolio, CV, press kit, and technical data on request — contact via: www.corneliagillmann.com/kontakt

2022 Autheater — Puppet making

2022 National Park Ranger — Donau-Auen (Danube Floodplains)

2021 Nature Educator — Marchfeld State Exhibition

2020 Kunstmeeting member

2019 new life for a vacant building

2019 openingspeech for Foto City

2019 panel discussion

2018 “POWER, FAME & SEX”

2018 Kulturvernetzung NÖ member

2017 Marketing Managerin

2017 artistic photographer

2014 – 2017 self-employed photographer

2012 – 2013 various jobs as photographer

2006 costume creations

2005 musical Canto

2001 – 2005 school-band and choir member

1998 – 2005 youth theatre group

19.10. – 20.10.2019 Tage der offenen Ateliers – Action

09.2019 – open Malen ohne Grenzen – action

05.2019 – 06.2019 Marchfeld

03.2019 – 06.2019 Behind the Curtain – solo

05.2017 – 06.2017 Anders und nicht so

11.2016 – 04.2017 photos with nature theme – solo

06.2016 – 09.2016 HOKUSAI x MANGA

2021 Recognition Prize from the Lower Austria Cultural Forum — “Back to the Roots”

2019 Finalist – “Beneath the Surface”

2019 Finalist in Pink Photo Contest – “Noble Magnolia”

2018 Daily Deviation – “Cabbage Mind II”

2018 Community Choice Award – “Natural Consumption I”

2017 Daily Deviation – “Irreparable Curiosity”

2016 Daily Deviation – “Falling Down The Hole”

2015 Finalist in Levitation Photo Contest – “Falling Apart”

2015 Finalist – “Withering Soul”

2015 Staff Winter Selection – “Falling Down The Hole”

2014 1. Platz internationaler Ubisoft Cosplay & Photo Contest – Aurora

2013 1. Platz Vienna Comix Cosplay Contest – Labrys

2012 3. Platz AniNite Cosplay Contest – Oichi

1997 – 2005 7 x 1. Platz Raiffeisen Malwettbewerb

2021–2022 National Park Ranger training — Donau-Auen

2021 Nature Educator training

2020 further education in ceramics – Georg Niemann

2019 diploma as Kräuterlehrling

2018 – 2020 autodidact. education in felting and painting

2013 – 2014 preparation course as Photography Master

2011 – 2012 Multimedia diploma – Medienschule Wien

2010 high school diploma with focus on
informationtechnology und -management, HAK Gänserndorf

2001 – 2005 Musikhauptschule Auersthal, clarinet

1998 – 2000 visual arts course, recorder

2019 Interview – Eiserner Vorhang, 9er Jahre – Magazin Biber

2017 Artikel – Magazin Schaufenster

2017 Cover – Galerieführer NÖ

2016 Interview – Alice im Wunderland – Blog Libera tra i Libri

2014 Kurzgeschichte – “Sterben: Eine Anthologie über den Tod”

2011 Sanakan Cosplay, Illustration von Tsutomu Nihei – Knights of Sidonia Bd. 6, S. 176

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