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Das-Fohlen_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-2_klein.jpg

die mär der mahr

2026

Puppe-dekonstruiert_2026_Textil-Nylon-Acryl-Haar-Silikon-Metall_Groesse-variabel_JESSIKA-D

ICH:MEDIUM

2025, ongoing

Es-werde-Licht_Scham-ist-ein-Geist_Jessika-Dirks–2024_AUSSCHNITT1.jpg

es werde licht

2024–2026

Madeleine_Dusollstschoensein_Jessika-Dirks_KLEIN2.jpg

du sollst schön sein

2020–2024

Kopie von Design ohne Titel.gif
»Es werde Licht« is an intimate phenomenology of the omnipresent, darkly raging repressive power of female* shame – and at the same time an act of emancipatory liberation.

die Mär
der Mahr


2026
 

MALEREI

SKULPTUR

VIDEO

SOUND

INSTALLATION

Das-Fohlen_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-2_klein.jpg
Das-Fohlen_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-1_klein.jpg
Two artists, Jessika Dirks and Edin Bajrić, have been working together since early 2025 and continue to do so in an intensive dialogue. Their shared theme: THE SELF.
Their artistic exploration revolves around the question of what happens when we confront ourselves radically. What layers, what hidden parts, what abysses, what attributions and essences come to light? Which voices fall silent, which begin to speak?
The project explores physicality, inwardness and fragmentation. It examines the SELF as a medium – as both the object and subject of observation. The artistic works reveal how self-observation can be artificial, constructed and yet deeply true at the same time.
Glitch-1_2026_Jessika-Dirks_1_Foto-Andre-Germar_KUBUS-UTOPIEN-2026_klein.jpg
staedtische-Galerie-KUBUS_Neues-aus-hannoverschen-Ateliers-2026_UTOPIEN_Jessika-Dirks_Glit
Die-Farbe-von-Granataepfeln_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-2_klein.jpg
Die-Farbe-von-Granataepfeln_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-1_klein.jpg
Reisige-Pferdekoepfe-aus-Stroh_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-1_klein.jpg
Reisige-Pferdekoepfe-aus-Stroh_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-2_klein.jpg
Ana-2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-1_klein.jpg
Der-Rest_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-1_klein.jpg
Bogen-Pfeile-Aepfel_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-1_klein.jpg
Bogen-Pfeile-Aepfel_2026_AEPPELN-UND-APFELN_Jessika-Dirks_Worpswede-2_klein.jpg
2026_EMBERS-in-collapse_Jessika-Dirks_oil-on-cotton_50x50cm-1_KLEIN2.png
2026_EMBERS-in-collapse_Jessika-Dirks_oil-on-cotton_50x50cm-5_KLEIN.png
Serie ICH:MEDIUM
Serie ICH:MEDIUM
Gesicht-an-Gesicht_Video_Jessika-Dirks_2025_klein.gif
»Es werde Licht« is an intimate phenomenology of the omnipresent, darkly raging repressive power of female* shame – and at the same time an act of emancipatory liberation.

ICH:
MEDIUM

2025
2026

MALEREI

SKULPTUR

FOTOGRAFIE

VIDEO

Puppe-dekonstruiert_2026_Textil-Nylon-Acryl-Haar-Silikon-Metall_Groesse-variabel_JESSIKA-D
Puppe-dekonstruiert_2026_Textil-Nylon-Acryl-Haar-Silikon-Metall_Groesse-variabel_JESSIKA-D
Two artists, Jessika Dirks and Edin Bajrić, have been working together since early 2025 and continue to do so in an intensive dialogue. Their shared theme: THE SELF.
Their artistic exploration revolves around the question of what happens when we confront ourselves radically. What layers, what hidden parts, what abysses, what attributions and essences come to light? Which voices fall silent, which begin to speak?
The project explores physicality, inwardness and fragmentation. It examines the SELF as a medium – as both the object and subject of observation. The artistic works reveal how self-observation can be artificial, constructed and yet deeply true at the same time.
Puppe-gestaucht_2025_Jessika-Dirks_2_klein.jpg
Puppe-gestaucht_2025_Jessika-Dirks_1_klein.jpg
Kokon-in-Scheiben_2025_Jessika-Dirks_Subjekt-unbekannt_2025-1_klein.jpg
Kokon-in-Scheiben_2025_Jessika-Dirks_Subjekt-unbekannt_2025-2_klein.jpg
ICH-MEDIUM_PREVIEW-13_klein.jpg
ICH-MEDIUM_PREVIEW-12_klein.jpg
ICH-MEDIUM_PREVIEW-11_klein.jpg
Gesicht-an-Gesicht_Video_Jessika-Dirks_2025_klein.gif
Subjekt-unbekannt_2025-4_klein.jpg
Subjekt-unbekannt_2025-3_klein.jpg
Subjekt-unbekannt_2025-1_klein.jpg
Subjekt-unbekannt_2025-2_klein.jpg
Dekonstruktion_Jessika-Dirks_2024-3-klein_edited.jpg
ICH-MEDIUM_PREVIEW-10_klein.jpg
Glashaut_2025_1_klein.jpg
Glashaut_2025_3_klein.jpg
Serie Es werde Licht
Es-werde-Licht_Scham-ist-ein-Geist_Jessika-Dirks–2024_AUSSCHNITT2_klein.jpg
»Es werde Licht« is an intimate phenomenology of the omnipresent, darkly raging repressive power of female* shame – and at the same time an act of emancipatory liberation.

es
werde
  licht

2024
2025
2026

MALEREI

TEXT

SOUND

VIDEO

Es-werde-Licht_Scham-ist-ein-Geist_Jessika-Dirks–2024_klein.jpg
Es-werde-Licht_Scham-ist-ein-Geist_Jessika-Dirks–2024_AUSSCHNITT1.jpg

It is as if I was born with a guilt, as if every action was preceded by something unforgivable. Every step I take is tinged with shame. Every look in the mirror. Every look into the world is full of longing. Wanting to wriggle into the innocence of another life. To hide in it completely. But soon I am drawn out by what made me yearn in the first place. This guilt. This immense shame. That overshadows my entire existence.

Ausschnitt aus Acrylgemälde von Jessika Dirks, grobe Pinselführung mit sanften Farben auf schwarzem Grund, tiefschwarzes Auge
Scham ist ein Kratzen Es werde Licht Jessika Dirks Acryl und Aquarellkreide auf Leinwand 2
Ausschnitt aus Acrylgemälde von Jessika Dirks, grobe Pinselführung mit sanften Farben auf schwarzem Grund, Hände, Beine
Ausschnitt aus Acrylgemälde von Jessika Dirks, grobe Pinselführung mit sanften Farben auf schwarzem Grund, Hände, Beine
Es-werde-Licht_Scham-ist-eine-Decke_Jessika-Dirks_2024_klein-1.jpg
Es-werde-Licht_Scham-ist-eine-Decke_Jessika-Dirks_2024_Detail1_klein.jpg
Madeleine_Dusollstschoensein_Jessika-Dirks_KLEIN2.jpg
Mama streicht mir über’s Haar.
Und sieht Marceline an.
Gut ist,
wer schön ist.
Das perfekte Mädchen.
Das perfekte Lachen,
volles Haar,
glatte Haut.
So scrollen wir durch das Flimmern der Nacht.
Und jeder Mikrometer an uns
wird observiert.
Korrigiert.

du
sollst
  schön
sein

2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Serie Du sollst schön sein

MALEREI

TEXT

SOUND

Madeleine_Dusollstschoensein_Jessika-Dirks_KLEIN1.jpg
Jessika-Dirks_Sophie-Du-sollst-schoen-sein_2.jpg
Marie-Du-sollst-schoen-sein_100x80cm_Acryl-auf-Leinwand_Jessika-Dirks-1.jpg
Jessika-Dirks_Sophie-Du-sollst-schoen-sein_3_edited.jpg
Du-sollst-schoen-sein_Janine_100x80cm_Acryl-auf-Leinwand_Jessika-Dirks_1.jpg

We live in the 21st century and the male gaze still determines the view of women*: the view of society, of men* and, most importantly, of women* themselves - of themselves and other women*. These are judgemental, demanding, hurtful looks. There is a constant shame smouldering over one's own physicality that keeps women* in the chains of patriarchy and constantly demands a high level of resources from everyday life, from one's own energy, weakens women*, makes them small, keeps them small. It is time to break the chains of the past, to free women*, to liberate them. Not through a violent act, but through a loving surrender to one's own physicality - which provides comfort and allows old wounds to heal. By accepting one's own physicality in the context of how women* perceive themselves and others, the patriarchal system can be softened.

Du-sollstschoen-sein_Ricarda_Jessika-Dirks-1_edited.jpg
Du-sollst-schoen-sein-Jacqueline_2021_100x80_Acryl-auf-Leinwand_Jessika-Dirks-1.jpg
Du-sollst-schoen-sein-Jacqueline_2021_100x80_Acryl-auf-Leinwand_Jessika-Dirks-2.jpg
Marceline-Du-sollst-schoen-sein_Jessika-Dirks_1_edited.jpg
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