EMILIA NEUMANN
Kumbhaka
Exhibition dates: May 4 - April 29, 2025

Press release

press release

We are pleased to invite you to the exhibition „Kumbhaka“ by Emilia Neumann at Galerie Parisa Kind. In this exhibition, we present a new installation as well as sculptures by the artist. The Frankfurt-based sculptor (b. 1985) primarily works with polymer plaster and concrete, which she colors with pigments during the casting process.Integral elements of her sculptures are everyday objects that she disassembles, cuts apart, and reassembles. After casting, the artist polishes some areas to a high gloss, while leaving others raw. In their new form, the sculptures exhibit traces of industrial production as well as seemingly organic growth. They appear both familiar and alien, resisting clear identification and thus opening up ever-new possibilities for nterpretation. They appear familiar yet evade clear identification, thereby opening up ever-new possibilities for interpretation. In doing so, the artist engages with fundamental questions of sculpture and translates them into a contemporary context. At the heart of her practice is the interplay of form, color, surface, space, and time - always in relation to the viewer. The exhibition space serves as an active component of the work. Questions about missing elements, defining characteristics, or imaginary narratives flow into her artistic exploration. This dialogical approach gives Neumann's works a unique spatial presence. The exhibition title „Kumbhaka“ - a term from yoga referring to the conscious holding of breath after inhalation or exhalation—serves as a metaphor within Neumann's exhibition for the tension between movement and stillness, form and dissolution, as well as the moment of becoming. Emilia Neumann (*1985 in Offenbach am Main) studied sculpture with Prof. Wolfgang Luy and Georg Hüter at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) in Offenbach am Main, as well as with José Luis Vicario at the Facultad de Bellas Artes Alonso Cano in Granada (ES). In 2013, she completed her diploma at HfG Offenbach with distinction under Prof. Luy in sculpture and Prof. Dr. Ries in sociology/media theory. From 2016 to 2017, she held a teaching position for sculpture and led the plaster and clay workshop at HfG Offenbach. In 2022, she received the working grant from the Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn, in 2023 the Ottilie Roederstein grant, as well as the Darmstädter Sezession Prize for Sculpture. Neumann's works are part of the Federal Republic of Germany’s collection of contemporary art as well as numerous private collections. In 2022, she realized three permanently installed, life-sized sculptures in front of the RheinMain Congress Center in Wiesbaden. Further public artworks can be found in Ulm, Cologne, and the Bundesrat building in Berlin.