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When considering washroom remodeling, you may want not to choose hiring the sculptor for such tasks.

Certainly, she's a whiz using sealant applicators, creating fascinating artworks with a surprising art material. Yet as you examine these pieces, the more it becomes apparent that something feels slightly off.

The dense strands from the foam she produces reach beyond the shelves on which they sit, drooping over the sides below. The knotty silicone strands swell before bursting open. A few artworks break free from their acrylic glass box homes entirely, evolving into a collector for dust and hair. It's safe to say the ratings might not get pretty.

At times I get the feeling that things seem animated within a space,” remarks the German artist. Hence I started using this foam material as it offers a distinctly physical texture and feeling.”

In fact there’s something almost visceral regarding Herfeldt’s work, including the phallic bulge jutting out, like a medical condition, off its base at the exhibition's heart, or the gut-like spirals of foam that burst as if in crisis. Along a surface, are mounted images showing the pieces seen from various perspectives: they look like wormy parasites picked up on a microscope, or colonies in a lab setting.

What captivates me is how certain elements in our bodies occurring that seem to hold independent existence,” Herfeldt explains. Phenomena that are invisible or manage.”

Regarding unmanageable factors, the poster for the show includes an image of water damage overhead at her creative space in the German capital. Constructed erected decades ago as she explains, faced immediate dislike among the community as numerous historic structures got demolished for its development. By the time in a state of disrepair upon her – who was born in Munich but grew up in northern Germany then relocating to Berlin during her teens – moved in.

The rundown building caused issues for her work – placing artworks was difficult her art works without concern potential harm – but it was also intriguing. Lacking architectural drawings on hand, nobody had a clue methods to address the problems which occurred. Once an overhead section at the artist's area got thoroughly soaked it fell apart fully, the only solution was to replace it with another – and so the cycle continued.

In a different area, Herfeldt says the leaking was so bad that a series of collection units got placed in the suspended ceiling to channel the moisture elsewhere.

“I realised that the building resembled an organism, an entirely malfunctioning system,” Herfeldt states.

The situation brought to mind the sci-fi movie, John Carpenter’s debut cinematic piece concerning a conscious ship that develops independence. And as you might notice through the heading – three distinct names – more movies have inspired shaping Herfeldt’s show. Those labels indicate the female protagonists in Friday 13th, the iconic thriller and the extraterrestrial saga respectively. The artist references a 1987 essay from a scholar, that describes these surviving characters an original movie concept – women left alone to save the day.

They often display toughness, on the silent side and she can survive because she’s quite clever,” says Herfeldt regarding this trope. No drug use occurs nor sexual activity. It is irrelevant the audience's identity, everyone can relate to the final girl.”

The artist identifies a parallel linking these figures to her artworks – elements that barely maintaining position under strain affecting them. Is the exhibition focused on cultural decay than just water damage? Similar to various systems, such components that should seal and protect from deterioration are actually slowly eroding in our environment.

“Absolutely,” responds the artist.

Prior to discovering her medium in the silicone gun, she experimented with alternative odd mediums. Previous exhibitions featured forms resembling tongues crafted from the kind of nylon fabric you might see within outdoor gear or in coats. Again there is the feeling such unusual creations seem lifelike – certain pieces are folded like caterpillars mid-crawl, others lollop down off surfaces or spill across doorways gathering grime from contact (She prompts people to handle and soil the works). As with earlier creations, the textile works are also housed in – and breaking out of – cheap looking transparent cases. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and that's the essence.

“These works possess a certain aesthetic that draws viewers highly drawn to, and at the same time being quite repulsive,” Herfeldt remarks with a smile. “It attempts to seem absent, yet in reality very present.”

Herfeldt is not making pieces that offer ease or beauty. Rather, she aims for discomfort, strange, or even humor. But if you start to feel something wet dripping on your head too, consider yourself the alert was given.