Sandra Maier
Visual Artist & Photographer

Sandra Maier (b. 1988, Liechtenstein) is a visual artist and photographer. Her practice centres on Visual Biographies (Bildbiografien), a conceptually driven approach to portraiture she developed to give visual form to a person’s lived experience in a single image.

Created through dialogue, close observation and sociocultural research, each portrait looks beyond appearance and social roles. Working predominantly in black and white, Maier explores how authenticity is shaped. Her photographs bring individual experience into focus while opening onto wider social realities.

Selected projects include Obsidian Observations (Armenia, 2023), on how value is assigned within societies under strain, and Being Young in Europe (Council of Europe, 2023–24), portraying Generation Z across four countries.

Selected Exhibitions

2026 Begegnungen, with Carol Wyss and Hanna Röckle, Galerie Le Claire Kunst, Hamburg, Germany (group)
2025 Pause to Continue, L’ANDART 25, 6th International Biennial, Sant Julià de Lòria, Andorra (group)
2024 Your Shame Not Mine, 27 Zinnober, Hannover, Germany (group)
2024 Obsidian Observations, Visarte Liechtenstein Triennial, Alter Pfarrhof, Balzers, Liechtenstein (group)
2024 Not a Woman’s Job? Changing Faces of Science and Tech, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland (group)
2024 Surfaces, Satellites of Art, CSIO, St. Gallen, Switzerland (group)
2024 Your Shame Not Mine, Kunstkiosk, Schaufensterkunst, Schaan, Liechtenstein (group)
2024 ASSITEJ Poster on Children’s Right to Art and Culture, Vaduz, Liechtenstein (solo)
2024 Being Young in Europe, Liechtenstein Presidency of the Council of Europe, Domus, Schaan, Liechtenstein (solo)
2023 Obsidian Observations, Yerevan Biennial Art Foundation, Yerevan, Armenia (duo)
2023 Your Shame Not Mine, with Barbara Bühler, Schaufensterkunst, Schaan, Liechtenstein (duo)
2023 Your Shame Not Mine, with Sirin Anoush, Schaufensterkunst, Schaan, Liechtenstein (duo)
2021 Fair Session, Soul City, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)
2019 Menschsein: Von Liechtenstein bis zum persischen Golf, Gustav, Vaduz, Liechtenstein (solo)
2015 Familienlounge, Grabs Hospital, Grabs, Switzerland (solo)
2015 Lanka Help, Sri Lanka Charity, Schlösslekeller, Vaduz, Liechtenstein (solo)

Public Collection

2023 Yerevan Biennial Art Foundation, Yerevan, Armenia

Work in Public Space

2015 Familienlounge, Grabs Hospital, Grabs, Switzerland

Artist Residencies

2023 Yerevan Biennial Art Foundation, Yerevan, Armenia
2016 Daheer Art Residency, Hormuz Island, Iran

Selected Publications and Press

2026 “Hamburg wird zur Bühne von drei Liechtensteiner Künstlerinnen,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2025 “Einblick in die Landart in Andorra,” KuL, Liechtenstein
2025 “FL Künstler:innen bei der 6. Biennale in Andorra,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2024 “Die geballte Schaffenskraft präsentiert,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2024 “Erstehung des Wertes,” Visarte Liechtenstein Triennial publication
2024 “UNO-Fotoausstellung: Zwei FL-Wissenschaftlerinnen dabei,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2024 “Ein Plädoyer für kindliche Kreativität,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2024 “Reichtum heisst nicht, dass das Leben automatisch besser ist,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2024 “Generation Z – Eine Generation zwischen Angst und Hoffnung,” Zeitschrift für Kultur und Gesellschaft, Austria
2023 “Welches Land soll Liechtenstein sein oder werden,” Zeitschrift für Kultur und Gesellschaft, Austria
2023 “Entwürfe: Liechtenstein erzählen – Das Vorzeigeland,” publication, Liechtenstein
2023 “Fair Photo Sessions,” Fairbessern, Liechtenstein
2022 “Authentizität spielt für mich eine wichtige Rolle,” Medienhaus, Liechtenstein
2012 “Das Leben mit der Kamera begleiten,” Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, Liechtenstein

Selected Published Photography

2021–2026 Exhibition views and artist portraits published in Artforum International, KUNSTFORUM International, Kunstbulletin, PARNASS Kunstmagazin, Saiten, CLICK Kunst, artmagazine.cc and e-flux.

Selected Talks and Interviews

2024 Being Young in Europe, address to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Domus, Schaan, Liechtenstein
2024 Wert und Wertschätzung der Kunst, panel discussion, Radio L, Engländerbau, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
2024 Being Young in Europe, television interview, 1FLTV, Liechtenstein
2023 Kunst als Selbstermächtigung, panel discussion, Schaufensterkunst, Liechtenstein
2022 Fair Sessions, live conversation with Reto Möhr, Liechtenstein
2020 Lebensformen der Freiheit und Selbstbestimmung, live conversation with Reto Möhr, Liechtenstein

Selected Professional Engagements

2023–2026 Board Member, Visarte Liechtenstein
2023–2026 Co-Founder and Board Member, Studio Total, Liechtenstein
2017–present Freelance Photographer, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
2012–present Founder, Visual Artist and Photographer, maier.editions, Liechtenstein

Education

2006–2009 Photography, School of Design, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2008 Workshops and Seminars, Centralverband Deutscher Berufsfotografen, Hannover, Germany
2007 Workshops and Seminars, Centralverband Deutscher Berufsfotografen, Rust, Germany