Diana Scherer is internationally known as a pioneer in biotechnological art, collaborating with nature to create "living sculptures" and textiles. Her work balances between control and collaboration with natural processes and asks questions about our dealings with nature.
Diana Scherer (Launingen, Germany, 1971) lives and works in Amsterdam. She studied fine art at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Scherer creates botanical installations, objects, textiles and photography, and is a pioneer in biotechnological art. Her work is driven by admiration for, and curiosity about, what neurobiologists call the “brain of plants”. She studies plants and root systems in order to guide their natural growth processes. In her studio, she creates artificial biotopes in which her works grow with the help of soil, seeds, light and underground templates, forming both natural and human-made patterns.
Recent exhibitions include Soil, Somerset House, London, UK (2025); Manifesta 15 Metropolitana, Barcelona, Spain (2024); Reset Now, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2024); Farming Textiles, Museum Kranenburgh, the Netherlands (2023); the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2022); and Intelligence of Plants, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany (2021). Scherer’s work is held in several collections, including those of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Design Society, Shenzhen; FOAM, Amsterdam; Museum Arnhem; Centraal Museum, Utrecht; and Bijzondere Collecties, Leiden.
Photography: Tesse Posthuma de Boer and Michiel Spijkers
