Kim Dotty Hachmann

Das sagt der/die Künstler:in:

Kim Dotty Hachmann, based in Berlin, is an artist whose work critically engages with the family as both a sociopolitical structure and a deeply personal space. Her practice not only examines contemporary debates on family—ranging from education policies and childcare to patchwork families and the PISA study—but also exposes the gendered dynamics embedded in these structures. Through her art, Hachmann highlights the often-overlooked labor of women in the private and public spheres, revealing how care work remains undervalued while simultaneously functioning as a site of resilience and resistance.

Working with short films, video installations, and photographic series, Hachmann explores storytelling as a tool to disrupt dominant narratives. Her works deconstruct binaries—individuality versus community, intimacy versus control, strength versus vulnerability—not as contradictions, but as interwoven forces that shape human relationships. By doing so, she exposes the social and philosophical layers of family life, challenging normative expectations and questioning the power structures that govern them.

A fundamental aspect of Hachmann’s approach is her own presence, along with that of her family, within her artistic practice. This deliberate choice reinforces the autobiographical and performative dimensions of her work, while also confronting the historical erasure of women’s voices in both the domestic and artistic realms. Rather than simply documenting family life, Hachmann turns it into a stage for subversion, humor, and critique, using irony and grotesque exaggerations to unsettle conventional notions of motherhood, care, and female agency.

Her work operates at the intersection of art, feminism, and social critique, rejecting the notion that family is merely a private domain. Instead, she exposes its deeply political nature, shaped by historical inequalities and ongoing struggles for autonomy. Through her imaginative, poetic, and often provocative narratives, Hachmann invites viewers to rethink the structures that govern intimacy, labor, and identity—transforming the everyday into a space of resistance and redefinition.