Exploring Lisa Herfeldt's Unsettling Silicone-Gun Artistry: Where Things Seem Animated

If you're planning bathroom renovations, you may want to avoid engaging the sculptor for the job.

Indeed, Herfeldt is highly skilled with a silicone gun, crafting fascinating sculptures out of an unusual art material. However the more observe these pieces, the more one notices a certain aspect feels slightly unnerving.

The dense tubes of sealant she crafts stretch beyond their supports supporting them, drooping over the sides to the ground. Those twisted silicone strands expand before bursting open. A few artworks escape the display cases fully, evolving into a magnet for grime and particles. Let's just say the ratings are unlikely to earn favorable.

At times I get the feeling that items seem animated in a room,” states Herfeldt. “That’s why I came to use this substance due to its this very bodily sensation and look.”

Certainly there’s something rather body horror regarding the artist's creations, including that protruding shape jutting out, like a medical condition, off its base at the exhibition's heart, or the gut-like spirals of foam that rupture resembling bodily failures. Displayed nearby, the artist presents photocopies of the works viewed from different angles: they look like squirming organisms seen in scientific samples, or growths on a petri-dish.

I am fascinated by is how certain elements inside human forms taking place which possess independent existence,” she says. “Things that are invisible or manage.”

On the subject of unmanageable factors, the promotional image for the show features a photograph of the leaky ceiling at her creative space in Kreuzberg, Berlin. Constructed made in the seventies and, she says, was instantly hated from residents because a lot of old buildings were torn down in order to make way for it. The place was in a state of disrepair upon her – who was born in Munich although she spent her youth in northern Germany prior to moving to the capital during her teens – took up residence.

The rundown building proved challenging for the artist – placing artworks was difficult the sculptures without fearing risk of ruin – however, it was fascinating. Without any blueprints on hand, nobody had a clue the way to fix any of the issues that developed. Once an overhead section within her workspace got thoroughly soaked it collapsed entirely, the single remedy was to replace the panel with a new one – thus repeating the process.

Elsewhere on the property, she describes the leaking was so bad that a series of drainage containers were set up within the drop ceiling to channel the water to a different sink.

“I realised that the building was like a body, a totally dysfunctional body,” the artist comments.

The situation brought to mind Dark Star, John Carpenter’s debut 1974 film concerning a conscious ship that develops independence. As the exhibition's title suggests from the show’s title – a trio of references – that’s not the only film shaping this exhibition. These titles indicate the leading women in Friday 13th, Halloween and Alien respectively. The artist references a critical analysis by the American professor, outlining these “final girls” a distinctive cinematic theme – female characters isolated to triumph.

“She’s a bit tomboyish, reserved in nature enabling their survival due to intelligence,” she elaborates regarding this trope. No drug use occurs or engage intimately. It is irrelevant the audience's identity, all empathize with this character.”

Herfeldt sees a connection between these characters and her sculptures – objects which only holding in place amidst stress they’re under. Does this mean the art really concerning social breakdown beyond merely leaky ceilings? As with many structures, such components that should seal and protect from deterioration are actually slowly eroding in our environment.

“Oh, totally,” responds the artist.

Before finding inspiration using foam materials, she experimented with other unusual materials. Past displays have involved forms resembling tongues made from the kind of nylon fabric you might see in insulated clothing or inside a jacket. Again there is the sense these strange items could come alive – some are concertinaed resembling moving larvae, pieces hang loosely on vertical planes or spill across doorways attracting dirt from footprints (The artist invites audiences to interact and soil the works). Like the silicone sculptures, those fabric pieces also occupy – and breaking out of – cheap looking acrylic glass boxes. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, which is intentional.

“They have a specific look that somehow you feel very attracted to, and at the same time appearing gross,” the artist comments grinning. “It tries to be not there, yet in reality very present.”

Herfeldt is not making work to make you feel relaxation or beauty. Conversely, she wants you to feel uncomfortable, strange, or even humor. However, should you notice something wet dripping from above additionally, don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Katherine Martinez
Katherine Martinez

Een gepassioneerde blogger gespecialiseerd in financiële tips en persoonlijke ontwikkeling, met jaren ervaring in het delen van praktische adviezen.