There once was a freakish little man, who lived in a small hut in the woods. He was wicked at heart, and would test the humans that would come his way. He would be one’s friend or foe depending on the passerby’s heart…
In my practice, I step into the shoes of different characters to explore gender performativity, folklore, ecological destruction, and non-human perspectives. Working across performance, video, and textile, my practice unfolds through storytelling. Using humour, I embody awkward, clumsy figures who long for connection and reveal the contradictions of identity. Blending filmed footage with animated watercolour elements, I create hybrid spaces where fiction and reality dissolve. In my latest research, I investigate gender roles and stereotypes in fairy tales, drawn to ambiguous beings—like the obedient, genderless “it,” the monstrous feminine, and the freakish little man suspended between masculinity and something undefined—who destabilise binaries and open fluid ways of seeing.
Floyd Schleußinger (b. 1998, Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany) grew up in the Alps in Southern Germany and lives and works in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In 2025, they graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts BEAR at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem, Netherlands. They participated in two residencies at Cittadellarte, Biella, Italy (2024), and Performing Arts Forum, Saint-Erme-Outre-et-Ramecourt, France (2023, 2022). Recent exhibitions and performances include Seeking Wood at Kunstpodium T, Tilburg which is part of the Master/Apprentice Program (2026); One Night Stand at Kunstpodium T, Tilburg (2025); Chewed, unchewed at ArtEZ, Arnhem (2025); and Flesh, Fish, and Fear at Dat Bolwerck, Zutphen (2025), where they presented the performance Richard the Poet Fish and Other Strange Encounters I and an artist talk.
CV
Education
2021-2025 Artez University of the Arts, Arnhem – B.A. BEAR Fine Arts
Residencies
2024 Cittadellarte, Biella, Italy. 11 September – 11 October.
2024 Cittadellarte, Biella, Italy. January.
2023 Performing Arts Forum, Saint-Erme-Outre-et-Ramecourt, France. 1 Week beginning of April.
2022 Performing Arts Forum, Saint-Erme-Outre-et-Ramecourt, France. 25 – 30 March.
Group Shows
2026 Seeking Wood, in collaboration with William Ludwig Lutgens, Larissa Esvelt, and Guus Holtman, Kunstpodium T, Tilburg, Netherlands, February 19 – March 8.
2025 One Night Stand, Kunstpodium T, Tilburg, Netherlands, 4 December.
2025 Chewed, unchewed, Artez, Arnhem, Netherlands. 2 – 5 July.
2025 Flesh, Fish, and Fear, Dat Bolwerck, Zutphen, Netherlands. January 17 – April 23.
Performances & Talks
2025 Flesh, Fish, and Fear, Artist Talk, Dat Bolwerck, Zutphen, Netherlands. 12 April.
2025 Richard the Poet Fish and Other Strange Encounters I, Performance, Dat Bolwerck, Zutphen, Netherlands. 12 April.
2025 Richard the Poet Fish and Other Strange Encounters I, Performance, Dat Bolwerck, Zutphen, Netherlands. 1 February.
2024 What if..?, Performance, Dat Bolwerck, Zutphen, Netherlands. 16 March.