About


ariane roesch [at] gmail [dot] com

I am interested in how we situate ourselves within a mechanized society, specifically exploring ideas of comfort, risk, and how we define success. My work questions the physical and psychological structures that make up our everyday, ranging from essential building structures such as electrical wiring, to the basic conduct of how people communicate and behave. Since the human drive is not only to make things work but to constantly better the functionality of an object or system, as well as our selves, it conjures the question of sustainability. If we are always searching, looking for something better, when are we satisfied? And most importantly what are we looking for? My work turns this question of sustainability inward, addressing the viewer, rather than examining outside sources.

My work is interdisciplinary, focused on using the right medium for the message. I use color, light, sound and textiles to create a sensory experience taking shape in objects, room-sized installations, and performance. I incorporate language used in the self-help, motivational and advertising industry. The end result can be very literal – drawings of mountains, soft sculptures of ladders, a red carpet – or more formal. Aiming to entice the viewer through a point of recognition and familiarity in the constructed objects and environments in a perceptual and sensory way, the work then has the possibility to create associations for the viewer, which leads to a heightened sense of awareness of how these elements manifest themselves in their life and what kind of role they play.


About Ariane Roesch

Ariane Roesch, a native of Germany, moved to Houston, TX, in 1996. She received a BFA from the University of Houston in 2007 and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2011. Preferring an interdisciplinary approach to her life and work, she is a visual artist but also works with sound, plays the ukulele, and writes.

Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at the Galveston Arts Center and Till Richter Museum, Germany. Her writings have been published on Glasstire and in Visual Culture Magazine. Her recent album “Flow” can be listened to on SoundCloud.

She was part of the research team for the Pacific Standard Time Exhibition, The Experimental Impulse, at RedCat (Los Angeles, CA) focusing on the cross over between LA Punk and Country Music in the late 1970s/early 80s.

She was a recipient of the IDEA Fund in 2008 and received a public art commission from the City of Houston in 2012. She recently built a house with her husband in Houston where they live with their three dogs.