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If you're planning washroom remodeling, it's advisable not to choose engaging the sculptor for such tasks.

Truly, Herfeldt is an expert with a silicone gun, crafting intriguing sculptures with a surprising art material. However the more observe her creations, the more you realise that an element feels slightly unnerving.

The thick lengths from the foam she crafts reach beyond the shelves supporting them, drooping over the sides towards the floor. The knotty silicone strands bulge before bursting open. Certain pieces break free from their transparent enclosures fully, becoming an attractor of debris and fibers. It's safe to say the reviews would not be pretty.

There are moments I feel this sense that items seem animated in a room,” states Herfeldt. Hence I started using this foam material as it offers such an organic texture and feeling.”

In fact there is an element almost visceral in these sculptures, from that protruding shape jutting out, similar to a rupture, from its cylindrical stand at the exhibition's heart, or the gut-like spirals from the material that rupture like medical emergencies. On one wall, are mounted photocopies of the works captured in multiple views: resembling squirming organisms observed under magnification, or colonies on a petri-dish.

“It interests me that there are things inside human forms happening that also have independent existence,” she says. Elements that are invisible or manage.”

On the subject of elements beyond her influence, the exhibition advertisement featured in the exhibition features a photograph of the leaky ceiling at her creative space located in Berlin. The building had been made in the seventies and according to her, faced immediate dislike by local people because a lot of older edifices were torn down for its development. The place was in a state of disrepair upon her – a native of that city but grew up near Hamburg then relocating to Berlin during her teens – began using the space.

This decrepit property proved challenging to Herfeldt – placing artworks was difficult the sculptures without concern they might be damaged – yet it also proved compelling. Lacking architectural drawings available, no one knew how to repair the problems that arose. When the ceiling panel in Herfeldt’s studio was saturated enough it collapsed entirely, the only solution involved installing the panel with a new one – thus repeating the process.

In a different area, Herfeldt says the water intrusion was severe that several shower basins were installed in the suspended ceiling to divert the moisture elsewhere.

I understood that the building acted as a physical form, a totally dysfunctional body,” she says.

These conditions evoked memories of a classic film, the director's first 1974 film about an AI-powered spacecraft that takes on a life of its own. As the exhibition's title suggests from the show’s title – a trio of references – other cinematic works influenced impacting the artist's presentation. Those labels point to main characters from a horror classic, the iconic thriller plus the sci-fi hit respectively. She mentions an academic paper from a scholar, which identifies these surviving characters a distinctive cinematic theme – protagonists by themselves to triumph.

They often display toughness, reserved in nature and they endure thanks to resourcefulness,” she elaborates of the archetypal final girl. “They don’t take drugs or engage intimately. It is irrelevant the viewer’s gender, everyone can relate to this character.”

She draws a parallel between these characters and her sculptures – objects which only holding in place amidst stress they’re under. Does this mean the art more about cultural decay rather than simply leaky ceilings? As with many structures, such components meant to insulate and guard us from damage are actually slowly eroding in our environment.

“Absolutely,” says Herfeldt.

Before finding inspiration in the silicone gun, Herfeldt used different unconventional substances. Past displays included forms resembling tongues using a synthetic material typical for on a sleeping bag or in coats. Similarly, one finds the feeling these peculiar objects could come alive – some are concertinaed like caterpillars mid-crawl, others lollop down on vertical planes blocking passages collecting debris from touch (She prompts viewers to touch and soil the works). Similar to the foam artworks, those fabric pieces also occupy – leaving – inexpensive-seeming display enclosures. These are unattractive objects, and really that’s the point.

“They have a particular style that somehow you feel very attracted to, while also appearing gross,” the artist comments with a smile. “The art aims for not there, but it’s actually highly noticeable.”

The artist does not create art to provide comfortable or beauty. Instead, she aims for uncomfortable, strange, perhaps entertained. However, should you notice a moist sensation on your head additionally, don’t say you haven’t been warned.