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When considering washroom remodeling, it's advisable not to choose employing the sculptor for the job.

Truly, she's highly skilled with a silicone gun, crafting fascinating artworks out of an unusual medium. Yet longer you examine the artworks, the stronger it becomes apparent that something feels slightly strange.

The thick tubes made of silicone she produces reach past the shelves on which they sit, drooping over the sides towards the floor. The gnarled tubular forms bulge until they split. Certain pieces escape their transparent enclosures fully, turning into an attractor for grime and particles. One could imagine the feedback are unlikely to earn pretty.

There are moments I feel an impression that objects possess life inside an area,” states the sculptor. “That’s why I turned to this substance because it has this very bodily sensation and look.”

Certainly one can detect rather body horror about Herfeldt’s work, including the phallic bulge jutting out, like a medical condition, off its base at the exhibition's heart, to the intestinal coils of foam that burst resembling bodily failures. Displayed nearby, the artist presents prints depicting the sculptures viewed from different angles: resembling microscopic invaders seen in scientific samples, or formations on culture plates.

What captivates me that there are things inside human forms taking place which possess their own life,” she says. Elements that are invisible or manage.”

On the subject of unmanageable factors, the poster promoting the event includes a photograph of water damage overhead in her own studio in the German capital. It was erected decades ago as she explains, faced immediate dislike among the community as numerous historic structures got demolished to allow its construction. It was already dilapidated as the artist – who was born in Munich but grew up near Hamburg prior to moving to the capital during her teens – took up residence.

This decrepit property was frustrating for the artist – placing artworks was difficult her pieces without concern they might be damaged – however, it was compelling. Lacking architectural drawings on hand, no one knew how to repair the problems that developed. Once an overhead section at the artist's area was saturated enough it collapsed entirely, the sole fix involved installing the damaged part – thus repeating the process.

At another site, the artist explains dripping was extreme that a series of shower basins were set up in the suspended ceiling to channel the water to a different sink.

It dawned on me that the building was like a body, a completely flawed entity,” the artist comments.

These conditions brought to mind the sci-fi movie, John Carpenter’s debut movie from the seventies concerning a conscious ship that develops independence. Additionally, observers may note from the show’s title – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – other cinematic works influenced shaping the artist's presentation. Those labels refer to main characters in Friday 13th, another scary movie and the extraterrestrial saga respectively. Herfeldt cites an academic paper from a scholar, that describes these surviving characters as a unique film trope – female characters isolated to triumph.

“She’s a bit tomboyish, on the silent side and she can survive due to intelligence,” the artist explains about such characters. They avoid substances or engage intimately. It is irrelevant who is watching, we can all identify with the final girl.”

She draws a similarity between these characters with her creations – objects which only maintaining position under strain they’re under. So is her work focused on societal collapse beyond merely leaky ceilings? Similar to various systems, these materials that should seal and protect from deterioration in fact are decaying around us.

“Absolutely,” she confirms.

Before finding inspiration with sealant applicators, Herfeldt used alternative odd mediums. Recent shows included tongue-like shapes crafted from a synthetic material typical for within outdoor gear or in coats. Similarly, one finds the impression these peculiar objects seem lifelike – a few are compressed like caterpillars mid-crawl, some droop heavily on vertical planes or spill across doorways gathering grime from contact (The artist invites audiences to interact and soil the works). As with earlier creations, those fabric pieces are also housed in – and breaking out of – inexpensive-seeming transparent cases. They’re ugly looking things, which is intentional.

“These works possess a certain aesthetic that somehow you feel compelled by, and at the same time appearing gross,” Herfeldt remarks grinning. “It attempts to seem absent, however, it is highly noticeable.”

Herfeldt's goal isn't work to make you feel ease or beauty. Instead, her intention is to evoke discomfort, awkward, perhaps entertained. However, should you notice something wet dripping on your head additionally, don’t say you haven’t been warned.