THE LETTING GO

THE LETTING GO is an artistic-somatic process pioneered by Natascha Stellmach. It employs the art of bloodline tattooing and explores an alternative form of intimate personal enquiry in contemporary art. For almost a decade (2012 – 2020) Natascha worked with individuals to address a personal obstacle. In response to the question, “What would you like to let go of?”, the process involved identifying, naming, embodying, seeing and experiencing healing and impermanence play out on the body. Through her research, it became apparent that this holistic experience encourages self-awareness and celebrates our capacity for reconciliation.

Natascha Stellmach, Day 1, Moira’s Letting Go, 2019

ABOUT THE LETTING GO: ENGLISH |  DEUTSCH
PERFORMANCES: ENGLISH  |  DEUTSCH
RESEARCH: MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY

THE PROCESS:

Participant meditating with Stellmach as part of The Letting Go, Berlin Festival, 2014, photo by Michael Lelliott
1. The Letting Go: “Landing in our Bodies”, Berlin Festival 2014, photo by Michael Lelliott
NataschaStellmach-TheLettingGo-FindingTheWord-Photo by Joanna-Sc
2. The Letting Go: “Finding the Word”, Kunst Galerie Fürth 2015, photo by Joana Schwender
nataschastellmachperformsthelettinggo-mkg-hamburg2015_cu-bw
3. The Letting Go: Preparing to tattoo, MK&G Hamburg 2015
Stellmach tattoos Grief in German, Berlin Festival, photo by Michael Lelliott
4. The Letting Go: Natascha tattoos ‘the word’, Berlin Festival 2014, © Studio Stellmach, photo by Michael Lelliott
©NataschaStellmach-Day1-Bernds-Philophobie2013
5. The Letting Go: “Embodying the Word-Wound” (Bernd’s Letting Go), Galerie Wagner+Partner 2013
Stellmach photographs a participant with her CLING tattoo
5. The Letting Go: Natascha photographs the Word-Wound, MKG Hamburg 2015
©NataschaStellmach-TheLettingGo-SelfieByAdam-Dupe-Day25-2016
6. The Letting Go: The skin heals and the word fades and eventually disappears: Dupe, Day 25, Selfie by Adam, 2016

[Respect goes out to the 120+ daring, stunning souls who participated in The Letting Go.]

PRESS
Barbed Magazine |  The Letting Go: artist portrait, Issue 05 / Spring 2017, Detroit, p. 55
Teaser Magazine | Künstler Portrait: Natascha Stellmach by Katrin Kobberger – Artist Portrait, 2015 (Deutsch)
Essay | Gespannte Erwartung: Ecce Me! – by Rafael von Uslar, 2015 (Deutsch)
Nürnberger Nachrichten | Mit Herzblut gezeichnet – Review by Reinhard Kalb, 2015 (Deutsch)
TV – Hamburg 1 | Diese Tattoos verschwinden von selbst, 2015 (Deutsch)
Hamburger Abendblatt | Wenn das Museum zur Tätowierstube wird – Review by Heinrich Oehmsen, 2015 (Deutsch)
Der Tagesspiegel | Vom Regen ausgewischt – Review by Michael Nungesser, 2014 (Deutsch)
art in berlin | Scheitern – so many ways to fail – Review by Inge Pett, 2014 (Deutsch)
Dazed Digital | Under The Gun – Review by Natalie Holmes, 2013
Berliner Zeitung | Das Böse ist immer und überall – Review by Ingeborg Ruthe, 2013 (Deutsch)
Die Welt & Berliner Morgenpost | Kämpf den Dämonen – Review by Frédéric Schwilden, 2013 (Deutsch)
Deutschlandradio Kultur | Kunst die unter die Haut geht – Andreas Main, 2013 (audio & transcript: Deutsch)
TAZ, Die Tageszeitung, Berlin | Tattoo-Happening zur Selbsterkenntnis – Review by Meike Jansen, 2013 (Deutsch)
a.muse Berlin | Beyond The Smoking Gun – Review & Interview by Julie Anne Miranda–Brobeck, 2013
Troublemag | Review & Interview by Carmen Ansaldo, 2013
Nau Nua Art Magazine | Interview by Juan Carlos Rom, 2013

©NataschaStellmachThe Letting Go: Mathias's Ernst & Frauke's Kerker, 2015
Day 1, Frauke & Mathias’s Letting Go, 2015