Roy Köhnke

Roy Köhnke (1990, France) is a Paris-based artist who works with sculpture, video, drawing and writing. In his practice, he combines advanced technologies with elementary craftsmanship in order to question the boundaries of the body and reconnecting it with its environment. Using techniques such as MRI and emotional AI, and through collaborative, transformative installations, he explores alternatives to dominant science fiction narratives. His work is rooted in a commitment to social and ecological justice, with a focus on transbodies and the co-evolution between technology and ecology.

During his time at MORPHO, Roy will work on Hard Hurt Hearts, a modular, performative installation consisting of four sculptures made of leather and aluminium and a sound work via walkie-talkies. The sculptures are inspired by the personalised “battle jackets” from punk culture: symbols of resistance, protection and collective identity. By engraving words and drawings into leather and combining it with aluminium elements based on organic defence structures, Roy explores the body as a vulnerable shield. Through a sound composition that reproduces fragments of a conversation between four fictional queer entities, the walkie-talkies explore alternative forms of communication, resistance and connection. In MORPHO, Roy will further develop the writing process of the text and explore new techniques such as laser engraving on leather.

Roy studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and Nantes, and is co-founder of the artist-run space Wonder/Fortin in Clichy. His work has been presented at institutions such as Le Credac (Ivry), Le Grand Café (Saint-Nazaire), CAPC Bordeaux, MOCO Montpellier, La Gaîté Lyrique (Paris) and Pilar (Brussels). He has participated in residencies at Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), Buropolis (Marseille) and RAVI (Liège), among others. Roy was a laureate of the Prix Révélation ADAGP and has received grants from Fondation des Artistes and Mécènes du Sud, among others. His work is included in the collections of CAPC Bordeaux and FRAC Normandie Caen.