"Moving across disciplines, my practice attends to the subtle relations between matter, mind and meaning."
I am an independent artist and designer with an interdisciplinary practice spanning artistic, curatorial, editorial and publishing work. With a particular interest in visual communication, material culture, contemporary craft and ecological thinking, I work with cultural institutions, publishers and independent businesses to create spaces for dialogue across disciplines, perspectives and forms of knowledge.
After studying Communication Design at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Central Lancashire, I established an independent practice in communication design and illustration before completing an MA in Design (Ceramics) at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
Having lived and worked internationally – including in Cape Town, the Cayman Islands, Barcelona and, for more than a decade, London – I have developed a practice informed by diverse cultural contexts, experiences and perspectives. During my years in London, ceramics became an important part of my work, deepening my engagement with materials, processes and the relationship between making and meaning.
My expertise and interests find expression in one of my current endeavours, Anthrotopia – an evolving space for inquiry and critical reflection at the intersection of art, design and science. As co-founder, I lead its development, bringing together voices, material practices and forms of knowledge to explore how aesthetics, material culture and relational thinking can reshape our understanding of a more-than-human world.
Artistic Practice
My artistic practice is concerned with the ways objects can convey meaning beyond language. Drawing on my background in communication design, I am interested in how concepts can be encountered through form and materiality rather than through words or images.
Working primarily with ceramics, often in combination with metal, glass and fibres, I explore the qualities of materials – their surfaces, textures and the meanings that emerge through them. Rather than imposing a fixed idea on a material, I allow making itself to become a form of inquiry, where decisions emerge through a continuous exchange between concept, process and matter.
The objects I create occupy a space between sculpture and function, where form, material and purpose remain open to interpretation. I am intrigued by this ambiguity, by the reciprocal relationship between matter and mind, and by the ways sensory experiences shape our understanding of the world.
My work has been presented in exhibitions and recognised through awards across Europe.
Curatorial Practice
Curating is a way of constructing relationships between artistic positions, makers, contexts and audiences, and of bringing them into dialogue. I understand an exhibition as a space of communication, in which artworks, spatial design and visual communication shape how meaning is perceived.
My exhibition projects often begin with a question and develop through research, selection and juxtaposition. Through this process, I trace connections, tensions and correspondences that generate a coherent narrative across different practices and perspectives.
At the centre of my practice is an interest in how aesthetic experience can shift perception, invite reflection and open up new ways of understanding.
Through my work, I seek to create conditions in which familiar assumptions can be reconsidered.
Editorial Practice
Drawing on specialist knowledge of contemporary art, craft and design, my editorial practice combines an informed understanding of practitioners in these fields and current developments with a strong grounding in visual communication.
My commissioned work for Art Aurea, a bilingual international art and design magazine, brings these areas of expertise together. With the character and quality of an art book, the magazine is dedicated to exceptional contemporary practices.
For Curators’ Choice, a recurring section within the magazine, five internationally recognised artists from different fields of contemporary craft are presented in each edition, offering an editorial portrait of their practice within the wider landscape of contemporary making.
My involvement encompasses the complete development of each feature: researching artists, coordinating with galleries and museums, selecting works and images, writing the articles in German and English, and designing the final pages – allowing me to shape both the content and its visual articulation.
Publishing Practice
Anthrotopia is an evolving platform at the intersection of art, design and science. It brings together ideas, practices and perspectives, exploring how humanity’s place within a more-than-human world might be reconsidered in response to the challenges we face today.
The project is grounded in the belief that many of today’s ecological questions cannot be addressed from within a single discipline. Anthrotopia creates connections between different fields of knowledge, with particular attention to material culture, aesthetics, ecology and relational thinking.
Its activities include curated content, essays, conversations and self-initiated projects. A journal currently in development will extend this inquiry through a dedicated editorial space for bringing together diverse voices and approaches around selected themes.
As co-founder, I lead the development of Anthrotopia and shape its conceptual, curatorial and editorial direction. My role involves defining its overall trajectory and developing the projects, collaborations and formats through which the initiative continues to evolve.
Getting in Touch
To get in touch, email me at info(at)ingridruegemer.com
Follow me on Instagram for a glimpse into my latest activities and projects.
