Kerstin Brätsch lives in Berlin and New York City. Her practice revolves around painting, combining a conceptual analysis of the medium with a passion for painterly processes. To explore the agency of painting and investigate it as an expanded field, Brätsch incorporates traditional artisanal practices such as stained glass, marbled paper, and stucco marble (Stucco Marmo), as well as collaborative projects, to situate them within the discourse of art history. In doing so, she questions subjectivity and authorship, moving from the personal to the collective.

In 2007, she founded DAS INSTITUT with Adele Röder, and since 2010, she has collaborated under the name KAYA with Debo Eilers, working collaboratively with friends, colleagues, and artisans. Brätsch studied art from 2001 to 2008 at the University of the Arts in Berlin (under Professor Lothar Baumgarten), and from 2005 to 2007 in the Master’s program at Columbia University in NYC (MFA).

Her works have been featured in solo exhibitions, including Munch Museum, Oslo (2025); Ludwig Forum Aachen (2022); Fondazione Memmo, Rome (2018); Museum Brandhorst, Munich (2017). She has participated in significant group exhibitions, including Venice Biennale (2022 and 2011), Camden Arts Centre, London (2020);Deichtorhallen Hamburg (2020), and the Museum of Modern Art New York (2014, 2020, 2024). In 2020, Brätsch was awarded the Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York and received the Peill Prize from the Guenther Peill Foundation. In 2017, she received the Edvard Munch Art Award from the Munch Museum in Oslo. In 2019, she was awarded the Villa Romana Prize together with Debo Eilers as KAYA.