Artist statement

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My work revolves around the theme of change and the magic of creation—its various forms, rhythms and contradictions. At the heart of my practice lies a devotion to material exploration, where impermanence and transformation become both medium and message. I see art-making as a ritual, a communicative act with something greater: the universe, a higher power, a force beyond language. Each piece emerges as the result of this ritual—a visual spell cast through intention, intuition, and process.

I combine objects I have made myself with ready-made objects and recycled materials. I seek out the fragile, the overlooked, the disposable, and the sacred—natural silks, dried flowers, plastic, polymer clay, PU foam, and other materials that speak in contrast and harmony. This juxtaposition reflects my exploration of dualities: high and low, nature and synthetic, permanence and decay. The materials also carry symbolic meanings, evoking identity, gender, time, place, and memory. 

My installations often emerge from childhood memories and can be seen as dreamlike windows into my childhood and current life. My These installations often exist somewhere between the intimate and the unfamiliar, between lived experience and imagined worlds. I am interested in how objects carry memory, how materials can evoke sensations that precede language, and how fragments of everyday life can be transformed into something mysterious. Through installation, sculpture, and assemblage, I create spaces where personal and collective narratives can meet.

My fascination with magic is deeply linked to my fascination with language and creation. Where language can be learned and taught, I see magic as something that must be lived and felt- much like child birth. Influences from mystics and philosophers like Giordano Bruno shape my perspective, yet some of my most profound insights have come from time spent with honey bees— A super organism, a shared consciousness. The more I listen to the hive and tend to their needs- the more I am aware of our connection- our shared breath. This idea of “shared breath” echoes throughout my work, appearing as layers of symbolism and texture meant to be experienced rather than merely observed.

My evolving practice includes intimate, research-based projects—such as explorations of food and feminine sexuality—as well as immersive installations that encourage collaboration between human and non-human narratives. I am interested in the ways bodies, materials, environments, and memories are interconnected, and in how these relationships can generate new forms of meaning.

Sustainability, to me, is a paradox. Nothing lasts forever. Yet within this ephemerality lies a profound truth that informs my art-making: transformation is inevitable, and the act of creation itself is a form of resistance against stagnation. Working with discarded, recycled, fragile, and transient materials allows me to embrace this contradiction rather than resolve it. My work exists within this space of tension—between what is fleeting and what remains, between process and product, between what can be spoken and what must be conjured.

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Bio

 

Tanja Is-Selin (b. 1984) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores transformation, materiality, memory, and the act of magic through art. Combining self-made objects with ready-made and recycled materials, she creates sculptures and immersive installations that function as dreamlike windows into childhood, memory, and contemporary life. Inspired by the sensuous world and the idea of a shared breath, her works evoke the mysterious beauty of change, connection, and the unfamiliar.