The 2013 Art Exchange

In the exhibition *OSMOSIS_identity quest* of Daniela Maria Span and Charlotte Simon, the concept of osmosis - the unremitting physiological process of transformation in the human body - serves as a metaphor for the human being’s ongoing physical and mental development. This perpetual human evolution is accompanied by a ceaseless shift of identity, whether conscious or unconscious. And just as osmosis in the human body requires a permeable membrane which makes the moment of change visible and is also the exact spot where the change takes place, the artistic works on display manifest this process of transmutation through those instants in time which they localize and firmly freeze into stillness.

Whereas Simon uses egg tempera painting and drawings as a lyrical, poetic vehicle to communicate her artistic substance, Span deploys photography and digital graphics in a trashy, poetic manner.

Whereas Simon’s focal point is on mystical, organic, natural transformatory processes, for Span, the cultural impact on the artist’s mental spheres forms the quintessence.

Both artists are committed to displaying various facets of the human search for identity amidst the conflicts arising between the need to culturally adapt and the craving for individual flowering and transcendence.