A continuation of her installation, 'Discordo Ergo Sum‘ ('I dissent, therefore I am‘); which consisted of 312 glass roses, Bertlmann represented the Austrian Pavilion, as the first female solo artist, at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019, where she focuses on the dichotomy of the human existence. The focal point of Bertlmann´s practice lays within the playground of gender and social issues, as can be seen in Knife-rose, an edition of 50 hand-blown Murano glass roses. The flaming and voluptuous red rose may be inviting, but from its core a sharp knife penetrates its petals and is ready to defend itself, awaiting an attack.
“ Perhaps it was novel for me to focus from the very start on investigating and developing a new image of the male by the female and did not restrict myself to developing a new image of the female by the female. „