EMMÉLIE LEMPERT
DE, 1998
Emmélie Lempert lives and works in Bonn.
As a German-Czech artist, Lempert examines the fluid nature of the body—its psychological and physical transformations through aging, pregnancy, shifts in weight, or changes in gender identity. She views each phase of comfort and discomfort as an opportunity to reject any notion of a fixed endpoint, weaving together personal myths, collective memories, and speculative visions to create surreal, dreamlike spaces where identity remains in flux.
In her most recent installations, Lempert crafts archaic, animalistic costumes for performative acts, later sealing them between sheets of translucent polycarbonate. Traces of sweat, stretches, and other imprints become silent witnesses to the body’s constant evolution. By selecting materials reminiscent of underwear or shapewear—garments that evoke both vulnerability and protection—she memorializes each fleeting moment of transformation.
By delving into body- and gender-politics, Lempert highlights the body’s endless capacity for reinvention. The impressions left on these garments serve as tangible evidence that who we are is always in motion, prompting viewers to question what is revealed or hidden—and to recognize identity as an ongoing process rather than a settled state.