🔗 Share this article

When considering washroom remodeling, you may want to avoid employing this German artist for the job.

Certainly, she's an expert using sealant applicators, creating compelling creations out of an unusual art material. But as you look at these pieces, the more you realise a certain aspect is a little off.

The dense strands made of silicone she crafts reach past their supports supporting them, drooping downwards towards the floor. The gnarled silicone strands bulge till they rupture. Certain pieces break free from their transparent enclosures entirely, becoming a magnet for dust and hair. It's safe to say the feedback might not get pretty.

“I sometimes have an impression that objects are alive inside an area,” remarks Herfeldt. Hence I turned to this substance because it has this very bodily texture and feeling.”

In fact there is an element rather body horror about these sculptures, including the phallic bulge which extends, like a medical condition, from the support within the showspace, and the winding tubes made of silicone that rupture as if in crisis. On one wall, Herfeldt has framed photocopies of the works captured in multiple views: appearing as squirming organisms seen in scientific samples, or colonies on culture plates.

“It interests me is how certain elements inside human forms taking place which possess their own life,” Herfeldt explains. “Things that are invisible or manage.”

Regarding things she can’t control, the exhibition advertisement promoting the event features a picture of the leaky ceiling in her own studio located in Berlin. Constructed built in the early 1970s and, she says, faced immediate dislike among the community since many older edifices were torn down to allow its construction. The place was run-down as the artist – who was born in Munich yet raised near Hamburg before arriving in Berlin during her teens – took up residence.

The rundown building caused issues for the artist – placing artworks was difficult her art works anxiously they might be damaged – yet it also proved intriguing. Lacking architectural drawings available, nobody had a clue how to repair any of the issues that arose. After a part of the roof within her workspace became so sodden it gave way completely, the only solution meant swapping the damaged part – and so the cycle continued.

In a different area, Herfeldt says dripping was extreme that several collection units were installed within the drop ceiling in order to redirect the water to a different sink.

“I realised that this place was like a body, a completely flawed entity,” Herfeldt states.

This scenario reminded her of the sci-fi movie, the director's first cinematic piece featuring a smart spaceship that develops independence. And as you might notice through the heading – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – that’s not the only film shaping this exhibition. Those labels indicate the female protagonists in Friday 13th, another scary movie and the extraterrestrial saga in that order. She mentions an academic paper from a scholar, outlining these “final girls” a distinctive cinematic theme – protagonists by themselves to overcome.

“She’s a bit tomboyish, on the silent side enabling their survival because she’s quite clever,” says Herfeldt of the archetypal final girl. “They don’t take drugs or have sex. And it doesn’t matter the audience's identity, all empathize with the survivor.”

Herfeldt sees a connection between these characters and her sculptures – objects which only holding in place despite the pressures affecting them. So is her work really concerning societal collapse beyond merely water damage? Because like so many institutions, these materials that should seal and protect from deterioration in fact are decaying within society.

“Absolutely,” she confirms.

Earlier in her career using foam materials, the artist worked with alternative odd mediums. Recent shows featured forms resembling tongues made from a synthetic material you might see in insulated clothing or in coats. Similarly, one finds the impression these strange items could come alive – a few are compressed like caterpillars mid-crawl, others lollop down off surfaces or extend through entries collecting debris from touch (She prompts people to handle and dirty her art). As with earlier creations, these nylon creations are similarly displayed in – and breaking out of – budget-style transparent cases. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and that's the essence.

“These works possess a particular style which makes one highly drawn to, and at the same time being quite repulsive,” the artist comments with a smile. “It tries to be not there, but it’s actually very present.”

The artist does not create art to provide relaxation or visual calm. Rather, she aims for unease, odd, or even humor. And if there's water droplets overhead additionally, don’t say the alert was given.