Anja Ibsch (b. 1968, lives in Berlin and Cologne) has been actively working as an artist and curator in the areas of performance and installation since 1993. Based in Berlin, she creates intense works that explore personal, cultural and social aspects of human presence while researching the endurance and tolerance levels of her body. Frequently inspired by myths of sainthood, sacrifice and release, her work emphasizes and extends connections between her body and the earth. Her varied actions have included eating dust, offering the surface of her skin as a nesting ground for worms, and melting ice on her eyes. She has performed in primarily in Europe and Asia, and more recently in Canada.