Paula Baader’s painting exists at the intersection of inner emotions and the external structures of the city. Her work reflects a deep engagement with memory, perception, and the shifting relationship between the body and urban environments. After studying under Cornelius Völker at Kunstakademie Münster, she pursued her Master of Painting at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London, a city that remains central to her artistic identity. Having lived and worked there for several years before returning to her hometown of Hamburg during the pandemic, Baader continues to explore the psychological and spatial imprints cities leave on their inhabitants.

Baader’s practice is heavily influenced by the concept of the Flâneuse, as described by Lauren Elkin, investigating how women navigate and reclaim urban landscapes. Her paintings serve as psycho-geographical maps, weaving together fleeting impressions, personal experiences, and spectral memories. Ghostly, translucent, and layered, her compositions resemble imprints on the skin—both ephemeral and enduring, constantly shifting between presence and absence.

Her work has been recognized in major exhibitions, including the 2019 and 2020 showcase Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland, presented in Bonn, Wiesbaden, Chemnitz, and the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. In 2022, she held her first solo exhibition at ESPACE Nina Keel in St. Gallen, further establishing her presence in the contemporary art scene.

Baader’s process oscillates between zooming in to establish intimacy and stepping back to navigate broader structures of memory and meaning. Her paintings form a dynamic web of associations, tracing the fluid contours of time, place, and experience. By embracing the transient and the intangible, she maps not just physical spaces but the unseen layers of emotion, perception, and the delicate imprint of passing moments.