The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Ella Kraimer: Appearances, a world-premiere exhibition of large-scale photographs. Kraimer transforms herself into a cast of fictional personas through striking self-portraits, using secondhand garments gathered from thrift stores across the country. Layered with irony, humor, and cultural critique, she explores the blurred boundaries between authenticity and performance, memory and invention, self and society.

Previously viewed only as a digital project, Appearances reflects on life in an age of social media, image culture, and spectacle. Inspired by childhood memories of paper dolls, Kraimer fragments and reconstructs her own likeness through costume, collage, and assemblage. At once playful and provocative, Appearances invites viewers to reconsider not only the images we create, but the stories they tell about who we are.

Kraimer spent her formative years in Berlin, Germany and is now based in New Bremen, Ohio. She earned a BA in Design and Visual Communication from the University of Europe for Applied Sciences, Berlin, and an MA in Visual and Media Anthropology from HMKW University of Applied Sciences for Media, Communication, and Management, Berlin.

Ella Kraimer: Appearances is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View. Now in its eighth iteration, the Biennial activates over 70 exhibitions at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky.