Roman Schramm

Born in 1979 in Germany, Roman Schramm lives and works in Berlin. His entry into the art world began at a remarkably young age: between 1994 and 2000, while still an adolescent, he was repeatedly awarded the Deutscher Jugendfotopreis. These early accolades provided formative access to established artists and sophisticated critical discourse, establishing a lifelong commitment to the visual arts that he later refined at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (1999–2007), studying under influential figures such as Cosima von Bonin and Stephan Dillemuth.

Schramm's artistic inquiry extends far beyond the studio. His practice is deeply informed by sustained immersions in the visual and spiritual cultures of India and Mexico, travels that have fundamentally reshaped his understanding of creativity and illuminated new registers of meaning and perception. This exploration of external worlds finds its counterpart in an equally rigorous investigation of internal ones: Schramm utilizes Transformative Play—a unique art practice encompassing roleplay and somatic techniques—to access what he terms "embodied knowledge." By physically inhabiting different internal roles and connecting with personal yet archetypal inner states, he makes these abstract territories experiential, ready for visual articulation.

This complex synthesis materializes through a distinctive hybrid of digital manipulation and tactile, hands-on construction. Schramm builds, assembles, and digitally transforms his subjects, dissolving the boundary between the organic and the artificial. For him, the final photograph is never a transparent window but an autonomous object—offering a grounded counterpoint to the fleeting nature of screen-based images. It enters into a direct, visceral dialogue with the viewer's own physical presence, transforming the artwork into a shared space of encounter.

Collaboration has remained central to his practice, notably as the founder and editor of the artist magazine SKULPI. Schramm has exhibited extensively, with notable presentations at Kunsthalle Lingen, KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin, and Barlach Halle K in Hamburg. His artistic practice has simultaneously engaged in a global dialogue, with works featured in group exhibitions spanning cultural capitals such as New York, Mexico City, Vienna and Madrid. In 2026, a solo exhibition is scheduled at Centro Párraga in Murcia.

His works are held in major public collections, including the Federal Collection of Contemporary Art (Kunstsammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland).