Karin Apollonia Müller studied design, photography, and film, at the University
of Essen where she received a Masters degree with honors in photography
in 1992. Since 1995, she has lived in the Western U.S. and Europe, teaching
and participating in residencies in China, New Mexico, Italy, and Germany,
as well as winning numerous awards.
Müller's first completely realized body of work and monograph, entitled
Angels in Fall (1995-1998), is a series of large scale color photographs
of urban Los Angeles and Western oceanside landscapes. These quiet observations
investigate the space where people and urban structures coincide with nature.
Her powerful photographs are low in contrast with muted palettes which Müller
believes "evoke things which are beyond visible." By subtly positioning
the human figure, actual or implied, within a complex landscape, Müller
evokes a profound sense of displacement in her photographs. These evocative
compositions possess a haunting potency. As a foreigner, Müller expresses
her "visitor" status in Los Angeles with a sense of alienation and beauty.
The artist's interest in the intersection of the natural landscape with
urbanization, evident her projects Bunkerscapes (2003), is a hot topic with
environmentalists and city planners. In her hands, these issues transcend
any analytic framework, becoming eternal and universal musings.
In 2009, Nazraeli Press published a second monograph by Müller entitled
On Edge, a follow-up project to Angels in Fall that documents the artist's
decreasing detachment from her surroundings in Los Angeles. She completed
her project Timber Grove in the same year, a series that artistically juxtaposes
the human connection and opposition to nature.
Timber Cove 2009 [view
images]
On Edge 2006-08 [view
images]
Bunkerscapes 2003 [view
images]
Angels in Fall 1995-1998 [view
images]
Seascapes 1996-2002 [view
images]