- Performance Art
- Visual Art
- Interdisciplinary Project
In Between Skin and Surface
Gulsah Karaca
3 July 2026 19:00–21:30
4 July 2026 11:00–15:30
At what point does a line become art? And why is a design celebrated on canvas yet dismissed on skin? In Between Skin and Surface interrogates the arbitrary boundaries that define and confine artistic practice.
The project’s catalyst is a personal confrontation with institutional gatekeeping: the artist's rejection by the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK) on the grounds that tattooing does not qualify as a legitimate artistic practice. The works on display create a dialogue between two practices, both inspired by nature. The artist’s tattoo designs, shaped by client narratives, celebrate the body as a “living canvas.” In parallel, the artist’s personal paintings draw on biological imagery to map an internal landscape of migration, adaptation, and shifting identity. The studio itself becomes a permeable membrane where the internal and external, the personal and public, are invited to meet.
The exhibition culminates in a live tattoo session, a performative act where the transformation from surface to skin becomes visible. This is the argument made manifest: a living artwork is created, challenging the very definitions that prompted the exhibition. The entire process, including dialogues with visitors and fellow artists, will be documented. The film will capture the evolving conversation around authorship, belonging, and the dynamic space where meaning is made.
In Between Skin and Surface invites you not just to see, but to question. It is a space to consider how borders operate, not as fixed lines, but as fluid territories of constant negotiation.
________________________________________
• Exhibition: Throughout the whole festival
• Live Tattoo Session: Witness the artistic process as a design is translated onto skin.
Friday, 03.07: 19:00 – 20:30
Saturday, 04.07: 11:00 – 15:00
• Video Installation: On Sunday, a video documenting the live tattoo session will be on display, offering a reflective look at the artwork's journey across mediums
The project’s catalyst is a personal confrontation with institutional gatekeeping: the artist's rejection by the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK) on the grounds that tattooing does not qualify as a legitimate artistic practice. The works on display create a dialogue between two practices, both inspired by nature. The artist’s tattoo designs, shaped by client narratives, celebrate the body as a “living canvas.” In parallel, the artist’s personal paintings draw on biological imagery to map an internal landscape of migration, adaptation, and shifting identity. The studio itself becomes a permeable membrane where the internal and external, the personal and public, are invited to meet.
The exhibition culminates in a live tattoo session, a performative act where the transformation from surface to skin becomes visible. This is the argument made manifest: a living artwork is created, challenging the very definitions that prompted the exhibition. The entire process, including dialogues with visitors and fellow artists, will be documented. The film will capture the evolving conversation around authorship, belonging, and the dynamic space where meaning is made.
In Between Skin and Surface invites you not just to see, but to question. It is a space to consider how borders operate, not as fixed lines, but as fluid territories of constant negotiation.
________________________________________
• Exhibition: Throughout the whole festival
• Live Tattoo Session: Witness the artistic process as a design is translated onto skin.
Friday, 03.07: 19:00 – 20:30
Saturday, 04.07: 11:00 – 15:00
• Video Installation: On Sunday, a video documenting the live tattoo session will be on display, offering a reflective look at the artwork's journey across mediums
Biography
Gulsah Karaca
Gülşah Karaca (b. 1989, Istanbul) is a Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist working between biology, fineline tattoo, and painting. Her background in Biology shaped a visual language rooted in precision and organic complexity. Initially exploring the body as a “living canvas,” she developed tattoo works merging natural forms with abstraction. Since 2022, painting has become her primary focus, allowing greater exploration of scale, texture, and concept. Her work reflects themes of adaptation and identity shaped by migration, using layered compositions and nuanced color to explore vulnerability, resilience, and transformation.
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