Annegret soltau interview tips

Annegret Soltau’s practice is an exploration of identity and more specifically, the female body. Since the 1970s, she has challenged conventional notions of representation through performance, photography and collage.

Here, Soltau discusses finding artistic freedom through her own body, and why her earlier work was marginalised and ridiculed for its depiction of pregnancy and childbirth.

You’ve said before that you use yourself as a model in your art because you can go ‘farthest with me’.

Can you explain what you mean by that?

If I use myself as a model, I don’t have to be considerate, I can do anything with myself: “use” my portrait or my body as material. It doesn’t mean that I just want to portray myself, but that I see myself as a person, as a woman especially.

Looking back on your career, how do you think your work has changed in terms of output and approach?

The 1970s was a decisive period