Iris Häussler

Iris Haeussler
Iris Haeussler as "Archivist" in one of the rooms of her installation "The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach" (2006).
Born	(1962-04-06)April 6, 1962
Nationality	Germany
Education	Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (Heribert Sturm)
Known for	Conceptual art, Installation art
Notable work	ou topos - Wien (1989), Pro Polis (1993), The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach (2006)

Iris Haeussler (or German spelling 'Häussler') (German pronunciation: [ˈiːʁɪs ˈhɔʏslɐ]; born April 6. 1962) is a conceptual and installation art artist of German origin. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Many of Iris Haeussler's works are detailed, hyperrealistic installations that visitors can decode as narrative stories. Recurring topics in her work include historic, cultural and social origins, such as family ties and relationships, and physical conditions, such as geography architecture and housing.

Haeussler studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts under Heribert Sturm with a focus on sculpture and has shown widely throughout Europe before her move to Toronto in 2001. Recognition received include a scholarship of the German National Merit Foundation, the Karl-Hofer Prize of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and a Kunstfonds Fellowship. Besides for her immersive installations, Haeussler is also known for her sculptural work and drawings. With her installations, she creates "synthetic memories" by presenting the living situations of fictitious protagonists who have arranged their lives somewhere between obsession and art.

Haeussler was trained as a sculptor, but her work is not easily classified by method or genre: she has had solo-shows of sketches and drawings, large and small sculptures as well as participatory, interactive pieces. However her most notable works are large, immersive installations. Philosopher Mark Kingwell notes: "It is an example of what we might label haptic conceptual art: the art of ideas that functions by way of immersion, even ravishment."

Haeussler had a guest professorship at the Munich Academy in 1999. In Toronto she taught sketching and sculpture at the Toronto School of Art from 2005-2013. She has given talks about her work in Germany, Sweden, Australia, the Norwegian Arctic, the USA and Canada. In 2014 she mentored Sean Stewart and Fausta Facciponte for their master's degree at the Lesley University College of Art and Design in Boston, USA.