Inessa Emmer
My work moves between painting and printmaking, with a focus on bringing the traditional technique of woodcut into a contemporary context. I create surreal landscapes inhabited by hybrid creatures that invite viewers into a world of thoughts, dreams, and memories. By layering colors, I produce unique prints with a painterly quality – a balance between printmaking and painting. Flora and fauna often play a central role, combined in unexpected ways that create moments of surprise and open up new ways of seeing.
As an extension of this practice, I experiment with coated cotton, a surface that resists absorbing color and instead produces a metallic shimmer. In these works, ornamental, plant-like forms unfold in kaleidoscopic, mirrored patterns, independent of traditional perspective. Painterly elements have become increasingly important in my work: I use color accents to strengthen the expressive power of my woodcuts.
ARTWORKS
Nur Muckefuck, 2022
Woodcut on Canvas
200 x 150 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
Der Galoschenstorch, 2022
Woodcut on Canvas
200 × 150 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
Mirrors Fifteen, 2022
Woodcut on Canvas
120 × 100 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
Mirrors Forty Six Seven, 2023
Woodcut on Canvas
120 × 100 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
Im Fadenkreuz, 2022
Woodcut on Canvas
200 × 150 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
Ping-Pong Scharade, 2021
Woodcut on Canvas
200 × 190 cm
Copyright Inesssa Emmer
Mirrors Thirty Seven, 2023
Woodcut on Canvas
120 × 100 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
Vessel Five, 2025
Woodcut on Canvas
75 × 45 cm
Copyright Inessa Emmer
BIOGRAPHY
Photo by Roland Baege
born 1986 in Kazakhstan
lives and works in Düsseldorf
since 2025 Lecturer for Graphic Arts I and II, Bergische Universität Wuppertal
since 2024 Lecturer for Printmaking, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
2018 Master Degree, Meisterschüler with Prof. Thomas Grünfeld
2012 - 2018 Studied art and printed graphics at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Art Academy) with Prof. Thomas Grünfeld
and Prof. Stefan Kürte
2008 - 2012 Studied art at the University Dortmund with Prof. Bettina van Haaren and Prof. Jan Kolata
Awards/Grants
2025 Residencygrand CCA Andratx, Mallorca
2024 Art-Residency Palermo, Association Düsseldorf-Palermo e.V.
2023 FBZ art award (Shortlist)
2023 NEUSTARTplus-grant of Kunstfond-Foundation, Bonn
2022 Projectgrant of the Ministry of Culture and Science of state NRW
2021 Nomination Artgrant Germany
2021 Projectgrant of the Ministry of Culture and Science of state NRW
2020 Nomination for Günter Drebusch Award
2020 Projectgrant of the Ministry of Culture and Science of state NRW
2018 Nomination for the sponsorship Award of „Zeche Unser-Fritz“ young positions
2010 Erasmus-scholarship, Université de Paris- Sorbonne
Collections
Braunsfelder Family Collection
Kunstmuseum der Stadt Albstadt (Art Museum of Albstadt)
Artcollection ProvinziaKultur- und Kunststiftung Stadt Donzdorf
Memberships
Since 2020 Verein der Düsseldorfer Künstler
Since 2023 Westdeutscher Künstlerbund
Since 2024 Künstlerverein Malkasten
Solo Exhibitions (Selected)
2026 Reine Drucksachen und mehr, Richard Haizmann Museum, Niebüll
2026 Boutwell Schabrowksy, München
2025 Mash up, städt. Gallery Schloss Donzdorf
2025 bald, aber, gleich, Gallery Frank Schlag, Essen (with Gereon Krebber)
2025 Falscher Schatten, Sittart Gallery, Düsseldorf (with Susanne von Bülow)
2025 Mash up, Museum Kloster Bentlage, Rheine (Catalog)
2025 Beyond Sea, Gallery Martina Kaiser, Cologne
2024 Eine gemischte Tüte, House of Art, Palermo (IT)
2024 Erbsenzählerei, KIOSK24, Herford
2024 Techtelmechtel, Arthouse Eurode Bahnhof, Herzogenrath
2023 Vice versa, Gallery Julia Ritterskamp, Düsseldorf
2023 Mirrors, Gallery Frank Schlag, Essen (Catalog)
2023 Fisimatenten und andere Schnittwege, Hattingen Museum (Catalog)
2023 Phantastische Welten, City Gallery Castle, Willich-Neersen (Catalog)
2022 CutCut, Art association Unna
2022 Traumwelten-Rätselbilder, Beckum Museum, Beckum (Catalog)
2021 Color Cut Cut Color, Martin-Leyer-Pritzkow Gallery, Düsseldorf (Catalog)
2018 Emmer/Seelge, SITTart Gallery, Düsseldorf (with Stefan Seelge)
2018 My world, Piero Renna Arte Contemporanea, Naples (IT)
2017 Das junge Museum, Bottrop
2016 Zu Hause // Trennende Gemeinsamkeiten, Künstlerzeche Unser Fritz, Herne (with Werner Reuber)
2015 OHNE TITEL 2.1, Kunstraum Unten, Bochum
Group Exhibitions (Selected)
2026 PALERMO – Gegenwart und Glück II, Johanna Ey Foundation, Düsseldorf
2025 Das Kleine Format, Art association Malkasten, Düsseldorf
2025 Small, Boutwell Schabrowsky, München
2025 ART COLOGNE with Gallery Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
2025 KLEINKLEIN,36. Übersichtsausstellung des Westdt. Künstlerbundes, Märkisches Museum, Witten
2025 Die Grosse 2025, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015 Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (Catalog)
2025 ART DÜSSELDORF with Galerie Löhrl und Art association 701
2025 Curator’s Choice, Gallery Julia Ritterskamp, Düsseldorf
2025 Und wir fangen gerade erst an, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
2024 No one belongs here more than you, Arthouse Erfurt
2024 Ink and pressure, Xylon Museum, Schwetzingen
2024 Ins Blaue hinein, Gallery Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
2024 Interieur & Stillleben in Moderne und Gegenwart, Kunstmuseum Albstadt (Catalog)
2023 Ink and pressure, House of Art Bocholt, Bocholt
2023 70 years Xylon, Spendhaus Museum, Reutlingen
2023 ART DÜSSELDORF with Gallery Löhrl
2023 Die Grosse, Das kleine Format, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
2023 Tierisch, Gallery Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
2022 Fields of view, 35th Overview of the West German Association of Artists, Museum Schloss Moyland and Museum Goch
2022 Storytelling, Art Museum of Albstadt, Albstadt
2022 FACE TO FACE, Museum Haus Opherdicke, Holzwickede (Catalog)
2022 10+2, gestern, heute, morgen, Art association, Linz am Rhein (Catalog)
2021 Jahresgaben, art association cologne, Cologne
2021 ART COLOGNE with Gallery Löhrl
2021 Artgrant Germany, Gallery Depelmann, Langenhagen (Catalog)
2021 The 4 elements, Gallery Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
2020 HEART, Artmuseum Bonn, Hamburger Kunsthalle
2020 Günter-Drehbusch-Prize, Märkisches Museum, Witten
2020 Gravure 4,Coelner Zimmer, Düsseldorf
2019 Dialog in Yinchuan, Museum of Modern Art, Yinchuan (CHN) (Catalog)
2019 Die Grosse 2019, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (Catalog)
2019 Planet 58, K21, Düsseldorf
2018 42 Contemporary Artists, Enter Art Foundation, Berlin (Catalog)
2018 Jeepers Creepers, BRAUNSFELDER, Köln
2018 the cologne biennail, DEG-Kunsthaus, Köln
2018 Die Grosse Kunstausstellung NRW 2018, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (Catalog)
2017 Die Grosse Kunstausstellung NRW 2017, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (Catalog)
2016 Klasse Grünfeld, W57 // Galerie am Meer, Düsseldorf
2016 Gedruckte Bilder, Kulturbahnhof Eller, Düsseldorf
2015 Klasse Stefan Kürten, Galerie Anna Klinkhammer, Düsseldorf
2015 CUT, Städtische Galerie Neuss, Neuss
2015 Die Grosse Kunstausstellung NRW, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (Catalog)
2011 Der Hohenhof in Hagen, Osthaus Museum, Hagen (Catalog)