Carolin Mueller | Exploring Memory, Space, and Sustainability Through Printmaking

Carolin Müller is a multidisciplinary artist and scholar whose practice bridges the realms of printmaking, installation, and arts-based research. With a focus on memory, materiality, and sustainability, her work delves into the traces left behind by spaces, objects, and bodies, creating layered narratives of identity, resilience, and transformation.

Carolin’s artistic foundation was built during her studies in Art Education at the Technische Universität Dresden, where she earned her BA and MA. She later pursued an MA in Film Studies and a PhD in German Studies at The Ohio State University, honing her ability to merge creative production with critical inquiry. Her training in printmaking under Michael Loderstedt (Kent State University) and Sergio Soave (The Ohio State University) informs her distinctive approach, combining traditional techniques with experimental, site-specific processes.

Her work explores the mundane—objects, dust, and the often-overlooked traces left in spaces—and reimagines their role in shaping memory and narrative. Carolin’s prints often function as dialogues with the spaces she inhabits or investigates. From abandoned garden houses in East Germany to politically charged landscapes in Jerusalem, she incorporates physical remnants from these environments into her creative process. For example, her use of found materials like drinking cans and PET cartons as printing plates bridges sustainability with an intimate connection to place, allowing the materiality of a space to shape the representation of its story.

In recent projects, Carolin has expanded her exploration to include the body as both a subject and a tool of expression. This includes a focus on how bodily traces—sweat, oil, and touch—can themselves act as mediums, challenging traditional boundaries of printmaking. By celebrating these residues, her work invites audiences to engage with the sensory dimensions of presence and absence, memory, and motion.

Her broader practice also questions societal constructs such as beauty and representation. She investigates how certain bodies and narratives are highlighted while others remain invisible, fostering critical conversations about inclusion and diversity. These themes emerge not only in the content of her works but also in their materiality, which reflects an ethos of sustainability and accessibility.

Carolin’s work has been exhibited internationally, including solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Bulgaria, Germany, and Jerusalem, as well as during residencies in the Czech Republic. Her workshops on sustainable printmaking share her innovative methods with diverse communities, making printmaking more accessible and fostering connections through creative collaboration.

Looking ahead, Carolin hopes to deepen her intercultural projects, return to her roots in Sachsen-Anhalt, and continue challenging the boundaries of printmaking through new, sustainable approaches. With her commitment to creating dialogues—whether through space, material, or the body—her work continues to inspire conversations about memory, identity, and the narratives we leave behind.

www.caroprints.com
@caro_prints

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