Isabella Gerstner, born in 1980 in Ellwangen, is a visual artist and lives in Berlin. In her artistic practice, she explores grinding processes, friction, shifts in facts and tricks, which she searches out in the everyday actions and uses of public space. She creates objects, site-specific installations and designs action spaces which, as abstract surfaces of friction, cite the status quo of their surroundings and at the same time carry them to absurdity. After studying pedagogy and cultural studies, she studied sculpture and intermedia design, completing a master’s program at the Institute for Art in the Context of the University of the Arts, Berlin. She has received several grants, including from the Cusanuswerk for work stays in Rotterdam and Paris and from the Baden-Württemberg Art Foundation. During her stay at Tarabya Cultural Academy, she worked in an abrasives factory. In her current project, she is developing and designing interwoven images of the edges of the Bosporus.
 
Isabella Gerstner was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from January to May 2017 and from January to April 2018.