Photographer sisters Anna and Maria Ritsch aim to make the kind of images you feel you could reach out and touch. Through their sensory, tactile approach, they invite us into their exploration of the physical, spatial and emotional dynamics of identity. “What do we hold, and why?” is the question at the heart of their latest body of work, I Find Them Really Pleasant to Hold. Upcoming at Barcelona’s VASTO gallery, the new exhibition of photographs and installations encourages us to consider the act of holding – whether an object, an idea, a person – and how it relates to individual and collective identity.
As is signature for the sisters, the work is dialogic; not just in terms of their shared creative practice, but in examining “the push and pull of human relationships”. While their previous project Together Apart (2023) was all about the tension between closeness and distance – a meditation on the international nature of their collaboration, with Maria based in Vienna and Anna in New York City – this new series examines the “delicate” balance between holding on and letting go.
In a conversation over email, we speak to the sisters about the personal experiences that shaped the project, about new ways to play with photography, and what eggs have to do with any of it.
Talk of ‘holding’ and ‘holding space’ has been somewhat memeified of late, thanks to all the finger-stroking on the Wicked press junket. What does holding mean to you, and how did you come to make work about it?
The Ritsch Sisters: For us, the act of holding is intriguing because it’s both concrete and abstract at the same time. It can be something as simple as holding an object or someone’s hand, but it can also be more complex – like holding onto a moment, a memory, a feeling, or even a belief. What makes it interesting to us is how these meanings shift depending on the situation, and how holding can be both a deeply personal experience and a way of connecting with others. The title reflects this ambivalence. Holding something can feel genuinely pleasant, but it can also point to the things we’ve become so used to holding onto that we resist letting go.
Were there any artistic or critical reference points that inspired the project? In considering the act of holding, Marina Abramović’s The Artist Is Present and Lygia Clark’s ‘relational objects’ come to mind. It also made me think of Melanie Klein’s object relations theory.
The Ritsch Sisters: We definitely have an interest in psychology and theories around attachment. Virginia Satir and her ‘systemic family constellation’ theory as well as the psychotherapy technique ‘brainspotting’ are quite influential to us. Similarly, we’re inspired by artists who dive into themes of presence and interaction. Abramović’s The Artist Is Present resonates – there’s something about the rawness of sitting with someone, just being there in the same space. Clark’s relational objects have always intrigued us too – how interaction with objects can become a gateway to intimacy.
However, for this project, we wanted to be more intuitive, rather than pulling from existing artistic references or frameworks. The creative process came from our own experiences and responses to what we were exploring through photography. There’s something in that space between the subject and the camera that mirrors the act of holding for us – it’s this delicate balance of presence, tension, and release.
We’re really interested in how photography can do more than just capture a moment – it can hold a feeling, a texture, or even a memory – The Ritsch Sisters
Could you say more about the personal experiences that shaped your exploration of these themes?
The Ritsch Sisters: The tension between holding on and letting go really resonates with us, and it’s something we’ve both experienced in our own lives. We’ve each had our moments of holding onto things – whether it’s old patterns, memories, or feelings – and the challenge of actually letting them go is never simple. It’s a process we’re constantly navigating, both personally and as artists.
In our work, we’re always faced with the question of what to keep, what to release, and what space to create in between. It’s not just about the release itself, but about what comes after – the freedom, the emptiness, or even the potential for something new. That’s where the real shift happens.
Eggs are a recurring motif in your work – very Dalí-like. What does this object represent to you?
The Ritsch Sisters: The egg has become a bit of an unexpected, yet constant, presence in our work. It’s not something we consciously set out to use, but over time, we found ourselves drawn to it. The idea that even something as ordinary as an egg can hold these big emotional and philosophical questions speaks directly to what we are interested in exploring in our artistic practice.
Our video installation Sound of an Egg Peeling, for example, is about stripping layers, revealing something more fragile or intimate underneath. But it’s also about potential, power, and transformation – the idea that something so delicate can contain everything it needs to grow and evolve. It’s a symbol that carries such a quiet, yet powerful, complexity – a reminder of the potential within even the most fragile things.
Your photographs feel almost palpable, zooming in on textures and entangled limbs. What techniques do you use to convey that sense of tactility?
The Ritsch Sisters: We’re really interested in how photography can do more than just capture a moment – it can hold a feeling, a texture or even a memory. It’s not about freezing time, but about creating a sense of touch within an image. To explore that, we’ve been playing with how to present photography also outside the usual frame. Our photography sculptures, for example, bring the image off the wall and into the space, so the viewer can walk around it, almost like interacting with the image itself. We also use materials like fabric, video, and even a custom seating piece, all of which help us expand on what photography can be. We love creating a kind of dialogue between the pieces and the viewer’s own experience of touch, presence, and holding.
How do your separate practices inform and challenge each other when you come together as the Ritsch Sisters?
The Ritsch Sisters: Our practices at this point are deeply intertwined, as we collaborate on almost everything, despite living in two different countries. Rather than having distinctly separate practices, it is our personalities, our surroundings and social interactions that differ, bringing unique perspectives and influences into our shared work. We are in constant exchange, communicating almost every day, which allows us to continuously challenge and refine our ideas through an ongoing dialogue.
The Ritsch Sisters’ exhibition, I find them really pleasant to hold, is on show at Vasto Gallery in Barcelona until 1 March 2025.
