Andrea Geipel
MY APPROACH
I do not understand art as an illustration of knowledge,
but as an opportunity to create new knowledge.
I'm not interested in how to illustrate migraine. I'm interested in how art can make visible experiences for which language is often insufficient.
My work arises at the intersection of art, health, and research. The starting point is always artistic practice. Drawing, sculpture, installation, object art, or participatory formats are not fixed techniques for me, but rather different ways of exploring questions, translating experiences, and developing new forms of communication.
Art thus becomes a place of discovery: While I work, new questions, research approaches and forms of exchange emerge between those affected, medical professionals and the public.
My work combines different materials, media, and forms of expression. Depending on the question being addressed, I create drawings, mixed-media works, sculptures, installations, artist's books, or participatory formats.
I am not interested in a particular medium, but rather in the question of which form does justice to a topic.
Therefore, I work intuitively and analytically at the same time. Many projects begin with an artistic idea and develop further during the work process – often together with other people.
ARTISTIC PRACTICE
My work is based on an artistic-research approach. It moves between conceptual art, artistic research, research-creation, participatory art and disability art.
I am interested in how knowledge arises not only after, but during the artistic process itself.
This makes artistic practice part of an open research process.
My work thus lies at the intersection of conceptual art, participatory art, artistic research, research-creation, and disability art.
Artists such as Frida Kahlo, Suzanne Lacy, Hito Steyerl, Walid Raad or Otobong Nkanga inspire me in different ways – not through a common visual language, but through their connection of art, research, social issues and personal experience.
ARTISTIC RESEARCH APPROACH
My multidisciplinary education allows me to combine different perspectives.
Sports science, neuropsychology, science and technology studies, as well as many years of experience in museums, science and culture shape my view of health, perception and communication.
These experiences now inform my artistic work – not as an illustration of scientific findings, but as a starting point for new artistic questions.
HOW I WORK
I am currently developing an interdisciplinary research program on the role of art in destigmatizing migraine.
Based on exhibitions, workshops and participatory formats, I investigate questions such as:
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How does art change communication about chronic illnesses?
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What experiences become visible through artistic processes?
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What role can art play in health communication?
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How do new forms of knowledge emerge at the intersection of art, medicine, and society?
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How can artistic processes contribute to a cultural understanding of migraine?
CURRENT RESEARCH
THE FACTS
EXHIBITIONS
Exhibitions are a central part of my artistic practice. They are not only places of presentation, but also spaces for encounter, dialogue and joint reflection on health, perception and society.
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09|2026 Information evening on migraines (Health Forum, Lübeck)
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06-09|2026 Reizräume (Stimulus Spaces) (Part of the Waterkant Exhibition, Kiel)
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06|2026 KOPFLANDSCHAFTEN (Headscapes) (Solo exhibition, Pop-Up Pavilion, Kiel)
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11|2025 BROKEN ECHOS (Interactive installation with DJ, Alte Mu eV, Kiel)
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08|2025 Migraine Black Box (Group exhibition, Pentiment Int. Summer Academy, Hamburg)
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05|2015 The Digital Self (Pop-up exhibition, Muffathalle, Munich)
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11|2010 Stadtansichten (City Views) (Photo Exhibition, Technical University of Munich)