Mandy Merkel was born in 1986 and grew up in Hellerdorf, a border disctrict in the eastern part of Berlin. She has a strong bond with her city and lived here ever since. Though she had a creative inclination from a young age, she never had an art practise that she followed regularly. In 2019 she returned to creating art after over a decade without any serious art practise. Since then, she has been exploring various art techniques, media and topics and found interest in graffiti, printing techniques, realistic pencil drawings and photography. Her aim is to strengthen her knowledge in these techniques and combine them to create something unique, aesthetically pleasing and emotionally captivating. She produces both realistic and abstract works. Mandy is deeply inspired by modern architecture – Bauhaus, socialist architecture and Brutalism – nature and their abstract aspects and the issues of our times. She is continually in search of a visual language to express her emotions and views on politics, society and the daily interaction with humans and enviroment. Mandy is still on a journey to find her own artistic voice.