At the center of my artistic practice is light — not merely as a physical phenomenon, but as a medium of perception, projection, and psychological resonance.


I work with light as with a thinking material: it touches surfaces, penetrates spaces, bends lines of sight — and creates atmospheres that oscillate between the visible and the invisible.

 

My installations, objects, and spatial compositions explore the relationship between human presence and architectural space. I am drawn to moments of uncertainty, disorientation, and irritation — because they open the gaze to what is usually overlooked. In my work, light becomes a language of the unconscious, a structure for memory, affect, and projection.

 

A recurring theme in my practice is shine or gloss — as an expression of surface, power, and cultural idealization, but also as disturbance and reflection. I deconstruct glossy image spaces and transform them into contemporary experiences — often through digital processes such as 3D modeling, photogrammetry, or AI-based light simulation.

 

My approach is interdisciplinary: I combine classical artistic techniques with technological methods, working at the intersection of sculpture, space, theater, and media art. What interests me is how technology transforms perception — and what new sensual, emotional, and epistemological spaces can be opened through light.

 

For me, light is an opening — into space, into the body, into time.
 

Betty Rieckmann
Born: 1986, Palo Alto, California, USA
Lives and works in: Frankfurt am Main, Germany

 

 

Education


2025 – Postgraduate Studies in Electronic Media, Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Germany
(Graduated with distinction)

2014 – B.A. in Lighting Design, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim, Germany

2011– Diploma in Fine Arts, Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe, Germany

 

 

 

Professional Experience and Workshops


2024 – Alumni presentation “the embodiment of gloss - reasearch with artworks”, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim, Germany
2023 – Art in Architecture “a morphing Frank Stella”, School am Weinweg, Karsruhe, Germany with light workshop for the students
2023 – Lecturer in Light Art, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim, Germany
2022 – Light art workshop, shine and gloss, Karlsruhe, 

Germany
2022 – Light art workshop, atmospheres, Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Jugendbildung LKJ Baden-Württemberg e.V., 

Germany

2020 – Art in Architecture “between clouds” Natus, Trier, Germany
2019 – Light art introduction, class Kalin Lindena, Akademy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe, Germany
2018 – Art in Architecture “between clouds” Taunusanlage 8, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2015 – Art in Architecture “Bubbles” Substage, Karlsruhe, Germany

 

 

 

 

Grants & Awards


2025 – Project Grant, Cultural Department, City of Frankfurt am Main
2025 – Project Grant, Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts
2025 – Project Grant, Foundation for Cultural Renewal
2022 – Project Grant, City of Karlsruhe, Germany
2021– Scholarship, Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
2020 – Project Grant, UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), Karlsruhe
2017 – Offenburg Förderkreis Award, Germany
2016 – André Evard Prize, Kunsthalle Messmer, Riegel, Germany
2015 – Ateliereinblicke Art Grant, EnBW Karlsruhe, Germany
2014 – Audience Award, Museum Modern Art Hünfeld, Germany

 

 

 

 

Publications (selection)

 

ISBN- 978-3-89929-135-3, 

Sammlung Würth 3
ISBN- 978-3-868332735 , 

7 Rooms, Junge Kunst am Oberrhein
ISBN- 978-3-9816155-8-6, 

Diffuser Schein
ISBN- 978-3-934510-49-4,  

Ateliereinblicke, Betty Rieckmann

 

 

 

Solo Exhibitions (selection)


2025 – Der “harte” Glanzpunkt als Störung, HfG Offenbach, Germany

2023 – Drifting off into Space, Stream Art Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2023 – LICHTräume, Kunstverein Ladenburg, Germany
2022 – Waiting for My Tea to Get Cold, Luis Leu, Karlsruhe, Germany
2021 – I Came from Space, AUTOMAT Artspace, Saarbrücken, Germany
2019 – Farbräume, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg, Germany
2019 – Diffuser Schein, Schloss Agathenburg, Germany
2017 – Lucid Dreams, DA Kloster Gravenhorst, Hörstel, Germany
2015 – Taming the Light – Light Installations, KunstHaus Potsdam, Germany
2015– Ateliereinblicke, EnBW Karlsruhe, Germany

2014– Chromatic works, Fettschmelze, Karlsruhe, Germany

Group Exhibitions (selection)


2025 – ELEKTRA von Hofmannthal. Drei Lebende und eine Drohne — Theater Production (Stage and Lighting Design) with director Florian Schongar,
Produktionshaus Naxos, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2025 – International Affairs, Gallery Ruprecht Contemporary, Wiesbaden, Germany
2025 – Kunst am Bau Exhibition, Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Weimar, Germany
2024 – Imaging the Thrid Dimension, Kunsthalle Wüth, Germany

2024 – Hello Lübeck, St. Annen Museum, Lübeck, Germany
2023 – Die Energie des Lichts, Kunstverein Walkmühle, Wiesbaden, Germany
2022 – LICHTKUNST, Kunsthalle Messmer, Riegel am Kaiserstuhl, Germany
2022 – Art Karlsruhe, UNESCO City of Media Arts, Germany
2021 – LICHT!, Kunststation Kleinsassen, Germany
2021– VIGN’ART – Land Art, Brugny-Vaudancourt, France
2021 – Art in Crisis, Lachenmann Art, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2020 – Seasons of Media Arts, Karlsruhe, Germany
2019 – 7 Rooms, Städtische Galerie Offenburg, Germany
2018 – Staub, Art Forum, Offenburg, Germany
2017 – Graduate Exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe, Germany
2017 – Open Codes, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
2016 – If Wishes Were Fishes, LaVallée, Brussels, Belgium
2016 – Socha à Objekt XXI, Bratislava, Slovenia
2016 – Luminale, Dreikönigskirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2016 – André Evard Prize Exhibition, Kunsthalle Messmer, Riegel, Germany
2015 – Kinesses – A Study on Movement in the Image, Viennafair, Austria

 

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