🔗 Share this article

If you're planning bathroom renovations, you may want not to choose engaging Lisa Herfeldt for such tasks.

Indeed, she's an expert in handling foam materials, producing intriguing sculptures from this unlikely substance. But longer you observe her creations, the stronger one notices a certain aspect seems somewhat strange.

The dense lengths made of silicone she crafts stretch beyond the shelves supporting them, hanging off the edges below. The knotty silicone strands swell until they split. A few artworks leave the display cases fully, evolving into a magnet of debris and fibers. Let's just say the reviews would not be favorable.

At times I get an impression that objects seem animated within a space,” says the sculptor. This is why I turned to silicone sealant because it has a distinctly physical texture and feeling.”

Certainly one can detect rather body horror about the artist's creations, starting with the phallic bulge that protrudes, hernia-like, from its cylindrical stand in the centre of the gallery, or the gut-like spirals made of silicone that rupture as if in crisis. Along a surface, Herfeldt has framed images depicting the sculptures viewed from different angles: they look like wormy parasites picked up on a microscope, or formations on a petri-dish.

“It interests me is the idea in our bodies occurring which possess their own life,” she says. Elements that are invisible or manage.”

On the subject of elements beyond her influence, the poster for the show features a photograph of water damage overhead at her creative space in Kreuzberg, Berlin. Constructed made in the seventies as she explains, was quickly despised by local people since many old buildings were torn down for its development. The place was run-down as the artist – who was born in Munich although she spent her youth in northern Germany prior to moving to the capital in her youth – moved in.

The rundown building proved challenging for her work – she couldn’t hang her art works without fearing potential harm – however, it was fascinating. Without any blueprints available, nobody had a clue the way to fix the malfunctions which occurred. Once an overhead section at the artist's area got thoroughly soaked it collapsed entirely, the sole fix involved installing the panel with a new one – thus repeating the process.

In a different area, Herfeldt says the leaking was so bad so multiple shower basins were installed in the suspended ceiling to divert the moisture elsewhere.

I understood that the structure acted as a physical form, a totally dysfunctional body,” Herfeldt states.

This scenario brought to mind the sci-fi movie, John Carpenter’s debut 1974 film featuring a smart spaceship that takes on a life of its own. As the exhibition's title suggests given the naming – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – other cinematic works influenced impacting the artist's presentation. Those labels point to main characters in Friday 13th, another scary movie and Alien in that order. Herfeldt cites a critical analysis by the American professor, which identifies these surviving characters as a unique film trope – protagonists by themselves to triumph.

“She’s a bit tomboyish, on the silent side and they endure because she’s quite clever,” says Herfeldt regarding this trope. “They don’t take drugs nor sexual activity. It is irrelevant the audience's identity, all empathize with the final girl.”

The artist identifies a similarity from these protagonists with her creations – elements that barely maintaining position despite the pressures they face. Does this mean the art focused on cultural decay beyond merely dripping roofs? Similar to various systems, these materials that should seal and protect against harm are actually slowly eroding within society.

“Completely,” says Herfeldt.

Prior to discovering her medium using foam materials, she experimented with different unconventional substances. Recent shows have involved tongue-like shapes made from the kind of nylon fabric found in on a sleeping bag or in coats. Once more, there's the feeling these peculiar objects might animate – certain pieces are folded as insects in motion, others lollop down on vertical planes or spill across doorways gathering grime from contact (Herfeldt encourages people to handle leaving marks on pieces). Like the silicone sculptures, the textile works are also housed in – leaving – budget-style display enclosures. These are unattractive objects, which is intentional.

“The sculptures exhibit a particular style that somehow you feel very attracted to, yet simultaneously being quite repulsive,” she says grinning. “It tries to be not there, however, it is extremely obvious.”

The artist does not create work to make you feel ease or beauty. Instead, she wants you to feel unease, odd, or even humor. However, should you notice water droplets overhead as well, don’t say you haven’t been warned.