| Artist | Jen Weissenbacher | Resides | Germany |
| Website | jenweissenbacher.art | Medium | Acrylic on canvas Mixed Media relief on wood panel Polymer Clay Resin Glass Minerals |
| Follow the Artist | mail@jenweissenbacher.art | ||
| Themes | Nature Human–Animal Connection Animals (Gorillas) Cosmos/Universe Transformation Perception & Consciousness Magical Realism Pop Surrealism Empathy Invisible Forces |
About the artist
Born and based in Germany’s Ruhr region – a landscape shaped by its industrial past and ongoing transformation – Jen Weissenbacher creates vibrant, colour-rich paintings and sculptural reliefs that examine human perception and the interconnectedness of all living things. Growing up in a mining family in a place defined by contrasts – industry and renewal, heaviness and light – she developed a deep awareness of transformation and resilience that continues to resonate through her art.
As a member of the Bund Gelsenkirchener Künstler (BGK) – a long-established association of local artists – and part of its board, Jen actively contributes to shaping the cultural life of her community. For her, art is both a personal and collective process — a way to build dialogue, foster empathy, and keep cultural transformation alive.
Jen holds a Master’s degree in Political Science, Philosophy, and Communication from the University of Münster. For many years, her professional focus lay in writing – as a journalist and communications specialist – searching for ways to express complex ideas with clarity and empathy. Over time, she felt drawn toward another language, one that could speak what words could not: the intuitive, the sensory, the unsaid.
Today, this evolution from verbal to visual expression shapes the essence of her art. Analytical precision provides structure for intuition, while colour and texture give voice to what can only be felt. Each work becomes a quiet conversation between reason and wonder – an invitation to sense the unseen unity of all life.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Working in a style she calls Magical Pop Realism, Jen Weissenbacher fuses vivid colour, tactile structure, and figurative presence. Her work challenges inherited anthropocentric worldviews, inviting a shift in perspective toward empathy, unity, and shared consciousness. Moving between painting and sculpture, her pieces oscillate between critical reflection and poetic wonder, opening spaces for altered perception and emotional resonance.
A recurring thread in her practice is the dialogue between visibility and invisibility – a visual exploration of what lies beyond the surface of things. Through layers of texture, light, and colour, she makes the intangible perceptible and transforms matter into metaphor. Recurring motifs include animal beings — especially gorillas as emblems of empathy and awareness — as well as celestial bodies, elemental forms, and cosmic landscapes. In her visual language, nature and spirit, reality and imagination, merge into poetic reflections on connection and transformation.
Versatile in both medium and form, Jen works across painting, mixed-media relief, and sculpture. She combines acrylic paint, texture paste, and sculptural materials such as polymer clay and clay, often building multi-layered surfaces on wood or canvas. Some of her works integrate glass, minerals, gemstones, and resin, while others exist as standalone sculptures. This interplay of colour, structure, and substance allows her to weave light, texture, and emotion into tactile expressions of the unseen.
Press
Jen Weissenbacher’s artworks have been featured in notable exhibition catalogues including Contemporary Art Ruhr (C.A.R.), Paper Global 6 – International Paper Art Triennale, and Noir.
CV
Education
M.A. in Political Science, Philosophy and Communication, WWU Münster, Germany
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025
Contemporary Art Ruhr (C.A.R.), UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein, Essen, Germany
Wunderbare Tiefen, Bund Gelsenkirchener Künstler, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
2024
ExtraSchicht, Neue Zeche Westerholt, Herten, Germany – solo presentation within the regional art festival
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Moderne Stillleben, Kunst- und Atelierhaus (Bund Internationaler Künstler), Bochum, Germany
Favorite Pieces, Domizil des BGK, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
KIEZKULTURFESTIVAL, Propsteikirche St. Urbanus, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
75 Jahre BGK, Stadtsparkasse, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
2024
Nach uns die Zukunft, Domizil des BGK (Bund Gelsenkirchener Künstler), Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Paper Global 6, Internationale Papierkunst-Triennale, Deggendorf, Germany
Vor Ort, Domizil des BGK, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
2023
KIEZKUNSTFESTIVAL, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Noir, Galerie 149, Bremerhaven, Germany
2022
Himmel, Tod und Teufel, Domizil des BGK, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
At a Crossroads, Van der Plas Gallery, New York, United States
