Preview night at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition – what a night!
Not only did my piece ‘We know what we saw’ make it into the exhibition – it also made it onto the Star Tribune Top Ten list of works in the show. With so much amazing, high quality competition, that is a huge honor.
Quick recap: my sculpture was inspired by a photograph that Star Tribune photographer Leila Navidi took of legal observers during an ICE raid outside of Nina’s Coffee Café last February. The group of observers included MPR reporter Sam Stroozas, who came out into the frigid temps in her bathrobe and slippers, to bear witness to ICE treatment of immigrants.
This photograph (shown below) captures the stubborn resistance of Minnesotans across all walks of life, refusing to look away as their neighbors were abused and abducted, bearing witness and often ensuring that people who were abducted did not just vanish into thin air.
I am so grateful that the Fine Arts department of the MN State Fair and its jurors decided to not silence art that expresses anguish over and opposition to what happened in our state, and all over the country over the last winter, and is still happening.
And last but not least – after the fair, this piece will be permanently installed at Nina’s Coffee Café – it could not go to a more suitable location!

A few days ago I got the much anticipated notification from the MN State Fair Fine Arts compartment that my piece ‘We know what we saw’ has been accepted into the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts exhibition!
Only about 10% of applicants get into this show! I couldn’t help feeling really invested in the outcome, also since the piece I submitted was sculpted with so much raw emotion, during the time of the ICE surge in the Twin Cities. I worked so hard on the facial expression of this legal observer of an ICE abduction – carrying all the disbelief and shock, but also the determination and stubborn resistance of Minnesotans standing up against ICE.
I am so honored and so grateful to share this piece with my fellow Minnesotans going to the Fine Arts Building – I am so proud to call Minnesota my home.

On Saturday, October 11, the Burl Gallery, formerly known as as AZ gallery, in downtown St Paul will hold an opening reception for its show ‘Kaleidoscope’. I submitted one of my Raku angels and it was accepted!

From the gallery’s show announcement:

On Saturday, October 18, from 2 to 4 pm, Rumriver Art Center will have its opening reception for ‘Look closely – Art made on a small scale’.
I submitted two small wall pieces to this show; they are titled ‘Denial won’t absolve you’, and ‘You can’t take my joy’.
Both got in, and ‘Denial won’t save you’ won first prize, judges choice!
This recognition for my piece really made me happy. I pushed my artistic limits with this piece by re-using foam fruit netting as an artistic tool, and I’m just thrilled this resonated so strongly.

The show will be on display at Rumriver Art Center from October 18, 2025 through November 8, 2025. The exhibition will then move to the Anoka County Library’s Northtown branch and be on display from November 10, 2025 through January 5, 2026.

About three weeks ago, I was invited to be part of Supercharged Print Makers show ‘Weathering Climate Change’ at the Casket Arts Building. The opening reception was Thursday October 2 from 6 to 8 pm – as always at this place, it was vibrant, animated, and lots of connections among artists and visitors were made. Why am I posting this after it happened? Let me explain.
The piece that is in this show (pictured below) is titled ‘Hanging in there; holding on’. Basically until the day I installed it on its pedestal the evening before the show opening, I wasn’t sure whether it would be finished in time for the show. And it did get dicey! 
Keep reading if you want to hear all about this sculpture’s journey.
The making started out easy –  I felt inspired right away because of my idea to work the broken parts of a Blue Willow China cup into this piece. Bisque firing worked like a dream, but then, and this is a first, I actually flat out dropped the piece on our concrete driveway after taking it out of the Raku kiln. Not a good time!
I frantically gathered all the shards and threw them into the wood chips, to still give them the Raku look, and in the hopes I could actually put this piece back together. And what do you know – it worked!
I love this piece so much. It expresses all the things I’m feeling and experiencing right now, and I actually think that the broken/fixed look really matches what I’m going for – our imperfect, brave attempts to come to grips, and hold ourselves together in a world where so much of what we love and care for is under attack. It felt immensely cathartic to put the finishing touches on this piece.
I received much positive feedback for it during the show, and it sparked many conversations. I felt truly blessed being an artist that night!

I’m so happy and honored to be part of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District’s “Connections” show at MSP International Airport again! The opening reception took place on July 21, and it was such a beautiful and uplifting event, including an actual live musician. My two pieces ‘My Mama’s stories’ and ‘Help’ are part of the show, and millions of travelers will gaze at them while passing through Terminal 1 concourse C on the walkway, alongside more beautiful and excellent local art. I’ve already gotten lots of feedback from friends and acquaintances about seeing my pieces there – what a wonderful feeling!
Maybe you will be able to see the exhibition when you travel this year.
Thank you to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District , @artsatmsp and @airportfoundationmsp for making this show possible!!!

The magic of Raku! This piece, titled ‘You are Loved’, and made in solidarity with all transgender people, was gifted all the pretty effects by the Raku Gods. See her in person (that’s when she really shines) @supercharged_printmakers opening reception for ‘Art of Resistance’, Thursday April 3rd, from 6 to 9 pm at Supercharged Printmakers studio @casket arts building, 681 17th Ave NE, Minneapolis. See you there!

Dump Trump and the broligarchy, who are trying to strip the American people of basic rights and hard earned benefits, to satisfy a small, but extremely greedy group of billionaires. Finding scape goats and relentlessly persecuting them, like transgender kids, is an age old and popular method to distract from the sinister doings of a fascist government that does not serve its people anymore.
My piece ‘Mama Bear’ is ready to resist after glaze firing. Love how she turned out! And she already found a new home. You gotta love it when a piece speaks to someone so strongly that they buy it before it’s even glazed.
Build the resistance!

The art world is good to me this year – this is the second high profile show whose jurors accepted one of my pieces!
This time it is the 51st Northern Lights Juried Art Exhibition, put on by the White Bear Center for the Arts in White Bear Lake. It will open on Thursday, February 27th.
My piece is titled ‘Time after Time’, after the song that inspired it, written and performed by the inimitable Cyndi Lauper.

Exhibition Dates: 

February 17 – March 27, 2025

From the website:
The Northern Lights Juried Art Exhibition shines as a celebration of local artists, showcasing their artistic talents in a variety of mediums. This year marks 51 years of this well-loved juried competition.

Northern Lights Community Reception
Thursday, Feb 27, 2025
6:00-8:30 PM
Award ceremony at 7:00 PM
Free with registration
Register here:
Northern Lights Exhibition 

A bit of background why I made this piece – when I was a teenager back in Germany, I lived a very secluded life due to my severe social anxiety, and often oppressive atmosphere at our house because of my father’s mental illness. A lot of popular culture passed me by; one song however pierced my isolation and touched my heart – it was ‘Time after Time’ by Cyndi Lauper. I was so struck by the tenderness and humanity in this song, and the accompanying video, and it helped me recognize Cyndi’s and my shared humanity, and that I did have a lot in common with other people, after all.
This focusing on what we have in common with others instead of what we can hate or find fault with, is quickly becoming one of my favorite emotional survival tools for getting through the present day, and staying positive.

Wishing the same to you all
Kordula

Here are some pictures from the opening reception for the 30th Arts North International 2025 on Saturday, Jan 11, at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
My piece ‘To Earth we return’ had been accepted into the show, and even better, it won second place in the category sculpture. This was a very competitive show to get in, so I feel very honored, and grateful for this recognition. It also means a lot to me since this sculpture series commemorates my late sister Roswitha.

Exhibition times:
January 11- February 22
Monday-Friday 9am-8pm
Saturday 9am-5pm
Sunday noon-5pm

Hopkins Center for the Arts
1111 Mainstreet
Hopkins, MN 55343

My piece ‘What I am made of’ (see pictures below) was accepted into Fresh Eye gallery’s ‘Skin’, exhibit, curated by Christopher Harrison.
It means a lot to me that this piece has been accepted into the show. It’s a very personal piece visualizing my memories growing up in Germany, carrying the burden of my country’s Nazi history, and my father’s PTSD and mental illness. It also shows happy moments – my childhood was, like that of many others, dappled. But these experiences got under my skin, became part of me and it’s up to me what I do with them. A country controlled by a ruthless, self-serving and cruel government leaves many victims and causes much damage – some more subtle and longer reaching than the other. 
The exhibition will run through November 10 at
Fresh Eye Gallery, 4238 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis

Hours:
Thursday 11am – 5pm
Friday 11am – 6pm
Saturday 11am – 4pm
Sunday 11am – 4pm
Closed Monday through Wednesday

My Raku fired mixed media angel sculptures also will get an opportunity to shine. The tallest one, my piece ‘For they shall be comforted’, has been selected for the @artistry_mn ‘s 48th annual member show! I can’t wait to share it with a larger audience again – I am pretty proud of it, partially because it’s so tall (28 inches!) and I incorporated found objects.
There will be a reception and awards ceremony on Friday, November 8 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, where 11 awards will be given out.
Artistry was formerly called the Bloomington Center for the Arts, and is located in Bloomington just south of 494, and it will be a large show worth seeing.

The two smaller angel sculptures titled ‘Compassion’ and ‘Prayer’ , and also my busts ‘Safe with me’ and Blessing’, will be part of an exhibition I’m really excited about since it is at a venue in our NE neighborhood and a much beloved landmark – the Wolf House! This house with its outdoors wolf sculptures and adventurous architecture and interior design is worth seeing just by itself, but for the weekend of November 8 through 10, it will be filled with music, visual arts and poetry, for the Autumn Art-A-Whowl Opening weekend.
Please see link to the Facebook event page here,
and the event flyer below.