One of the most important reasons why I make art is my need to communicate and the resulting exchange with other people. Especially with chronic illnesses like migraine, I repeatedly experience how difficult it is to make inner experiences visible or understandable. Art allows me to express things for which words are often insufficient: pain, sensory overload, loss of time, loss of control, withdrawal, or anger. At the same time, I also realize that my migraine is not the sam

My exhibition KOPFLANDSCHAFTEN (HEAD LANDSCAPES) ended a little over two weeks ago at the Pop-up Pavilion in Kiel. How does art influence our perception? This poster invited visitors to the exhibition KOPFLANDSCHAFTEN. (Photo: Andrea Geipel) Since then, I have consciously taken time – to recharge my batteries, to rest and to sort through all the impressions, encounters and experiences. For me, KOPFLANDSCHAFTEN was more than just an art exhibition. It was an experiment. The qu

Meine Migräne ist nicht Deine Migräne. Tatsächlich ist über die Zeit nicht mal meine Migräne meine Migräne. Wie kann dann meine Kunst ein umfassendes Bild von Migräne zeigen? Als Antwort auf diese Frage entstand während meiner Ausstellung das partizipative Kunstwerk „Lautstücke“.

2,818 hours. That's the number of hours I had migraine attacks in 2025. That's almost 118 days. Or to put it another way: a third of the year. Fun fact (or rather: reality) Chronic migraine with a high attack frequency (15–20 per month) also affects concentration. In fact, I had migraine attacks on 189 days in 2025. That's 4,536 hours – or 272,160 minutes . So I must have made a mistake somewhere in my own calculations. The part of me that has learned to live with migraine ta

At the end of May I will be part of a special project: a creative sailing trip on the Belle Amie. From May 23rd to 25th, the traditional sailing ship will be transformed into a floating studio. Together with two other artists, I will be leading creative workshops that focus not on technique or perfect results, but on perception, intuition, and experimental work. The Belle Amie at sunset in Denmark. (Photo: Andrea Geipel) For me, this trip is also a return to a place that has

Things have been quiet here for the past few weeks. Not because nothing's been happening – quite the opposite. I've been busy creating art and working on my freelance business. But I've also been having migraine attacks every other day. Which is why there hasn't been any time for blog posts or social media. And that's exactly what I want to talk about today: What's it like to be self-employed with a chronic pain condition? On paper, self-employment sounds like freedom: your o

I never thought I could get so excited about hitting stone. Too loud. Too firm. Too aggressive. Too much. It all began with this 12k piece of pyrophyllite (soapstone). A room full of people repeatedly tapping on stone – and me, tapping on stone. It's loud, dusty, and exhausting. Actually, exactly the kind of place you wouldn't want to be as someone living with migraine. And yet, something happened right there. I'd known for some time that I wanted to work more sculpturally. T

Even though I'm repeating myself, migraine is more than just a headache . It's a neurological disorder that affects the lives of millions of people – in Germany, across Europe, and worldwide. Headache disorders are among the most common neurological diseases, and migraine is one of the top three causes of disease burden globally (World Health Organization ). In Germany, approximately 10–14% of adults experience recurrent migraine attacks, with a significantly higher prevalenc

How an old image idea became a Christmas card for people with migraines. The Advent season is considered a time of peace, warmth, and anticipation. For many people with migraine, however, it primarily means one thing: sensory overload . Full calendars, stress, smells, lights, emotions – all of this can be too much and lead to the head "burning" precisely when peace should be setting in. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why things have come full circle for me this year. XMA

A week after the second presentation of BROKEN ECHOS, I'm taking some time to reflect. The following days were incapacitated by a migraine attack – a bitter irony and, at the same time, a stark reminder of why this project exists in the first place. For me, this installation was significant for several reasons: as an artistic process, as a personal undertaking, and as an invitation to discuss an illness that occupies so much space yet remains so invisible. Installation of ham

“BROKEN ECHOS” is my first installation – and it’s special to me in many ways. Since April 2025, I’ve been part of the umraum eV studio collective at the Alte Mu in Kiel. Here, a diverse range of creative minds come together – artists, musicians, designers, people who share spaces and ideas. I was therefore all the more delighted to be able to participate in one of the Listening Sessions – a project organized by umraum eV with the support of the city of Kiel , which brings to

Wie sieht Migräne aus? Diese Frage begleitet mich schon lange. Seit ich denken kann, lebe ich mit Migräne – sie gehört zu mir, mit allem, was sie bedeutet: Schmerz, Erschöpfung, aber auch Klarheit, Kreativität und Sensibilität.

Mit diesem Beitrag starte ich etwas Neues: meinen Blog.Ich möchte diesen Raum nutzen, um über meine Kunst, meine Arbeit zwischen Wissenschaft und Kultur – und vor allem über meine Migräne zu schreiben.