Phantom Limb

A phantom limb is a body part that is no longer there but can still be felt. Oskar Rink turns this into painting: at the heart of the exhibition is her new series scratch. Hands detach from their bodies, grasping, holding and scratching one another, a gesture between tenderness and assault. Again and again the motifs extend beyond the edge of the picture: cut wooden elements continue the painted hand past the edge of the support, so that a finger physically protrudes into the room. We are showing fifteen works from 2025 and 2026, mostly large-format, in oil, charcoal and mixed media on canvas and wood.

The exhibition title Phantom Limb refers to the phenomenon of continuing to feel something that is no longer there. This idea runs through the exhibition as a leitmotif: Oskar Rink’s works explore the visible and invisible layers of our experience, memories that linger, spaces that mirror inner states, and images that reveal themselves only gradually.

For a long time it was mainly geometric forms and objects that stood in for human experience; in the new works, figures and living forms appear here and there. The object nevertheless remains a central carrier of memory and meaning: everyday things become emotionally charged symbols that speak of closeness, absence and change.

The exhibition opened on 3 September 2026 as part of the first Hamburg Art Week “Crossing Currents”. On view until 2 October 2026 at Jungfrauenthal 4.