Nora Papp
(b.1975, CH)
Nora Papp (b. Switzerland) is a contemporary artist whose practice explores the aesthetics and mechanics of digital imagery in the age of social media.
Her work often begins with the seemingly ephemeral visual material found on Instagram, a platform that has become both a stage for self-representation and a vast archive of contemporary visual culture.
During her studies in Amsterdam, Papp began dissecting the digital image not merely as a surface but as a complex structure composed of measurable and reconfigurable data. She identifies and extracts what she calls aesthetic data—the elemental building blocks of an image such as luminosity, flatness, brightness, contrast, structure, warmth, saturation, colour, highlights, sharpness, and layers. Beyond these visual qualities, she also considers processes of production, reproduction, dissemination, and storage as integral to an image’s identity and cultural value.
By cataloguing and rearranging these elements, Papp constructs new visual compositions that question what constitutes an image in the digital age. Her work does not simply replicate or remix existing imagery but instead reimagines its logic, creating artworks that oscillate between data and aesthetics, analysis and expression.
Technically, she employs Adobe Illustrator as her primary tool, using the software as both a laboratory for experimentation and a canvas for creation. Each composition is generated by reapplying the data she has meticulously gathered from Instagram posts, allowing her to merge computational precision with artistic intuition.
Through this process, Papp reveals how images today are not only consumed and shared but also broken down into fragments of information—capable of being recombined into entirely new visual languages. Her practice highlights the fluid boundaries between digital technology and contemporary art, challenging viewers to reconsider the ways in which images are produced, circulated, and valued in an increasingly networked world.
