What is appearance? Outward manifestations like make-up, colour, light and shadow... A transient, ›empty‹ surface which allows people not only to notice one another, but also identify one another and even fall in love. In her solo ›Die Scheinwerferin‹ visual artist and performer, Naoko Tanaka, employs light and shadow to reveal new dimensions of ›appearance‹ and ›reality‹. Carrying a torch, Tanaka departs on a fictive journey into her inner self. Using simple means, she thus creates fascinating imaginary images – images of suppressed memories, of a rampant forest that appears to grow under a simple dining table. Her powerful ›illusory world‹ of light and shadow takes over the whole space, flows, disappears and reappears again.

Naoko Tanaka studied painting and fine art at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and received a scholarship to study at the Arts Academy of Dusseldorf.  She is co-founder of the artist collective Ludica. Under this label, she has created numerous stage performances and dance installations and was invited to appear at the German Dance Platform in 2010.