Susanne Kriemann's Autoradiographs: Nature Through a Radioactive Lens

German artist Susanne Kriemann, winner of the Crespo Foundation's 'After Nature' prize, presents her exhibition 'Im Fieber der Sonne flattern Schmetterlinge im Bauch' at C/O Berlin. The show features autoradiographs created by placing radioactive minerals from former uranium mining sites in Saxony and Thuringia onto photographic film, revealing the subtle imprints of radiation. Kriemann's practice, developed since 2010, explores themes of environmental contamination, material witness, and the slow violence of nuclear legacies. Working with geologist Ralf Thomas Schmitt of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, she has produced images that often resemble veins or organic forms, challenging spectacular depictions of radioactivity. The exhibition also incorporates materials from her Berlin studio, where she discovered slag from uranium mining beneath the floorboards, which she now uses as pigment for silkscreen prints on handmade paper. Kriemann's title reflects both the fever of climate change and the excitement of her artistic process. Her work reimagines archives and questions whether plants can shield against radiation, a topic she plans to explore over the next 15 years.