Harm Weistra studied Visual Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, where he gradualted in 2011. He holds an MA in Social Sciences from Utrecht University. Weistra started his career as journalist and teacher of journalism at the University of Zwolle.
Weistra is inspired and produces work based on his experience and research. His work refers to the theory of gender and sexuality and to emancipatory movements, translated into artistic expressions such as video, film, photography and installations.
Most of Weistra's work emphasises aesthetics while addressing social and political issues. This generates a disruptive tension. Emphasizing aesthetics is a way to seduce the viewer to watch. By simultaneously creating confusion and manipulating the viewer's perception, Weistra breaks through their passivity and questions the seemingly rational and logical, but often culturally determined, beliefs and opinions. His work can also be seen as an echo of an open society with ubiquitous interactions, since the internet has become the dominant platform for (anonymous) human debate.
Storytelling is usually the basis of Weistra's work, though implicitly presented, allowing the viewer to fill in his or her own story. Stories are applied as a means of questioning the dichotomy between ourselves and others. As a result, his work often leaves the viewer with a mix of conflicting feelings and thoughts. The visual seductiveness and the questions and confusion that his work evokes underline its layered character.