Dr Mareike Gronwald is a German-born emerging artist and sociologist living in the Blue Mountains/ unceded Darug and Gundungurra land, exploring sociological questions through artistic practice. Mareike has always had a strong passion for art, drawing and painting from an early age. However, her desire to learn about how human societies function led her into the world of academia where she was working as a sociologist in national and international research projects in Hamburg and Mannheim, obtaining a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Mannheim in 2013.Whilst working as an academic in Germany, Mareike has attended art classes in Mannheim and Berlin. In 2014, Mareike moved to Australia becoming a full-time mother, working casually as a German language teacher in the community. Artistically, Mareike has been learning with and from ceramic artist Kumari Abeydeera and visual artist Liz Bryan during this time. She has also taken painting classes at TAFE (run by artist Matthew Tome). Mareike’s art is strongly influenced by her ongoing interest in sociological questions specifically the role, acknowledgement and perception of women (and as woman identifying) in societies and their Gefühlswelten (sensorial and emotional experiences) as well as the (re-)discovery of connection with nature providing solace, healing and a feeling of belonging no matter of the cultural background, age, gender or socio-economic status. From an art-historical perspective, Mareike has been inspired by the painters of German expressionism (“Die Bruecke”, “Blauer Reiter”) who reflected on societal and political questions in their art while also dealing with the spiritual relationship between human beings and nature focussing on expressing emotions and internal processes through colour and form. Mareike is mainly working with acrylics and water colours from her home in Blackheath, exploring and experimenting with different degrees of abstraction and the intuitive finding of organic shapes and images revolving around nature, emotions and human-spiritual connections.