Current Work: Tea and Time, 2021-2022
Each work is made from a biofilm of yeast and bacteria. All have grown on the same substrate within one month each, the differences are mainly due to seasonal temperature variations. After one month, the "harvest" takes place, the biofilm is dried and preserved with wax. A new cycle begins: a new biofilm forms again on the substrate, which is harvested after one month.
The bacteria and yeasts used here are organisms that also live in each of us.
They existed on this planet long before humans existed. I see them as an extension of the self, a way of connecting with the planet and its inhabitants.
The underlying process of growth is central to my work: humans play a subordinate role, they merely create environmental conditions for growth. The material - an interface between man and nature – raises questions about the significance of humanity in nature.
At the same time, the works are reminiscent of ageing human skin, whereby the bacteria will outlive us by millennia. My works are meant to question our anthropocentrism and focus on the fragility of humans and the relativity of time for nature.
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No Title, 2021
For this project, nylon tights and wax are my main materials. The skin-like substance of wax is able to evoke sensations, emotions, history and has a preserving function – it captures moments of memory. Nylon tights reminds of female skin and its transparence symbolizes the thin line between inner and outer world and its vulnerability.
My process includes ironing – a process charged with gendered meaning to explore and question preconditioned concepts about gender and the female body - I willingly build folds to create imperfection, traces and scars, questioning concepts of pain and the female body.