I was born in Rüsselsheim in 1976, the child of an industrial worker and a primary school teacher. I have been living and working in Mainz since 2006.

Since 1996, I have been developing independent projects in the field of performing arts, both as a performer and as a director and producer.

In my artistic work, I combine autobiographical themes with processes of social change. As a queer person with a chronic illness, I have a special and personal focus on the themes of outsiders, illness and mortality.

I develop most of my projects through intensive research and improvisation. With courage, humour and a healthy dose of irony, I search for meaning in the everyday madness of our reality and question social norms.

I mostly work in collaboration with other artists. Since 2000, I have had a permanent artistic partner in Peter Schulz, with whom I also founded the performance art depot (pad) in Mainz, in 2007. The projects developed with him under the label Schmitt&Schulz have been shown throughout Germany, in the Netherlands and in the USA.