In her current series HYPERSENSITIVE, Peschek continues her exploration of digital identity and techno-emotional states. At the center are the contradictory dynamics of virtual intimacy, the promise of self-healing, and the pressure for constant self-optimization. Our realities are becoming fluid — the digital sphere penetrates our perception, inscribes itself into bodies, thoughts, and mirror images.
Between image and message, Peschek traces the narratives of Instagram stories, fleeting ideals, and the seductions of influencer culture as well as the wellness and beauty industries.
Through self-portraits, Peschek shapes her digital body to align with the aesthetic expectations of algorithmic feed suggestions. The blurriness in her images is the result of excessive use of filters and optimization tools — a softening effect that does not beautify but dehumanizes. Our self-perception is changing in the image-flood of social networks — the doubled irises in her work refer to a kind of seeing that multiplies, fragments, and reassembles itself.
As image carriers for her mixed media portraits, Peschek chooses polar fleece – a material that evoke touch. Its delicate texture deliberately contrasts with the smooth, cold surface of the touchscreen. A hand on the other side of the screen suggests closeness, yet can only imitate the humanity generated by AI.
With poignant sensitivity, Peschek explores the painful longing for touch in our time and opens up perspectives in which the unspoken begins to resonate.
For the exhibition, Peschek creates environments that represent different stages of intimacy and emotional relaxation. A color filter applied on the exhibition space windows shields the inner world from external influences and bathes the room in an idealized rosy glow. The gaze outside of the window tints the external world in optimized pink. The soft light shifts between aesthetic glorification and cute aggression.
A seemingly floating shrine with a whispering pillow at its center invites visitors into a state of supposed relaxation — from within it, manipulative affirmations sound in ASMR whispering spoken by an AI voice model, suggesting closeness and understanding.
Peschek also addresses the pursuit of relaxation and beauty in her site-specific bathroom installation: visitors enter an environment between softness and collapse, between bath-time playlists and metaphysical breakdown.
Text by Angela Zach-Buchmayer