Ulla Reiss is a New York-based artist originally from Smolensk, Russia. Reiss’ primary practice started in photography though her work often spans a wide range of media. For Reiss, the physical act of shooting and printing film is the starting point for her broader practice as an artist, the darkroom as alchemical chamber. She explores the subconscious mind by diving into recesses of her memories. Reiss transmutes personal experiences into a contemporary context through metaphysical themes and dreamlike visual imagery. Guided by the duality of light and dark, she captures unseen moments in their meeting, creating narratives within the nuances of beauty and abstraction.
Reiss frequently draws from the emotional material base of her childhood. After nine years of professional experience in the Olympic School of Gymnastics in Russia, Reiss found a connection between the strength, structure, and mental discipline of her training with that of Constructivism, Brutalism, and the Bauhaus movement. She started her career in front of the lens, working with well-known photographers and brands as a model. Traveling the world for work gave Reiss the opportunity to visit cultural institutions, allowing her to further develop her visual vocabulary. The naturally shifting chapters of her life encouraged Reiss to move from in front of the camera to behind it, and in the process, find her narrative voice by becoming a keen witness.
In 2020, Reiss documented gymnasts in their training environment in the Smolensk Academy of Sport for several days for a project called “Another Level.” This drew on her own early years of training in a similar school, a thread of inspiration that continues through her work.
In 2021, Reiss embarked on a three-and-a-half day journey via the Trans-Siberian Railway, documenting the trip from Moscow to Irkutsk, Siberia. The trip culminated in a two month residency in Angarsk for Travel Almanac, a print magazine based in New York and Berlin. Reiss and her team held castings for pre-teen performers in acting, choreography, and fashion fundamentals, photographing their process and encouraging their self-expression. This inspired Reiss to draw an emotional line between the start of her modeling career in a small town to that of the young subjects of her project. The resulting documentation, “Siberian Time Capsule,” appeared as a 36-page spread in Travel Almanac.
In her latest body of work entitled “TriPtych,” Reiss created a film and still self-portrait series incorporating sculpture by Warren King and sound by Rhadoo. Reiss takes the viewer on a trip into the unknown of the subconscious mind, exploring three time frames in non-linear space. She interacts with a life-sized cardboard replica of herself crafted by King. Reiss and her sculpture represent the conflict and constant conversation between the physical and metaphysical: the duality of an inseparable whole. Referencing the warrior mentality of martial arts philosophy and training, Reiss wears a Kendo gi while she performs with her likeness. By combining photography, performance, cinema, sculpture, and sound, Reiss presents a broad vision by exploring the furthest reaches of her imagination.
