Florence Iff
(Switzerland)

AMALGAMATED FRAGMENTATIONS-ASSIMILATION AND INVASION
The violent and destructive intervention of man in nature and the fusion of organic and artificial matter

Inspired by my grandfather's cameras and photographs, I started taking pictures at a very early age, developing them in the lab and experimenting with photography. Initially self-taught, during my training as an artist I developed a wide-ranging approach to working with the medium and became increasingly interested in what photography as a medium involves, what is possible and where the boundaries lie. I often mix media and explore the boundaries of imaging by, for example, combining web-based images with analog techniques, drawing on photographs and painting them, burying them in the ground and waiting for years for microorganisms to decompose different types of paper in order to then digitally assemble the results.
Since I was sensitized to the issue of the threat to nature from carbon emissions in the early 1980s, I incorporated the alienation of humans from the natural environment into my work very early on and it has been one of my main concerns as an artist as well as a teacher ever since. Today, I mainly work on the Capitalocene and subsequent topics such as climate change and loss of biodiversity as long-term projects. I combine activism and teaching children about sustainable agriculture with my artistic practice to address these topics and the latest research on the Holobiont in a holistic way.
My work has won several awards and has been exhibited worldwide.