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If you're planning washroom remodeling, it's advisable to avoid hiring the sculptor to handle it.

Indeed, Herfeldt is highly skilled using sealant applicators, creating intriguing sculptures out of an unusual substance. However longer you observe the artworks, the more one notices a certain aspect seems somewhat unnerving.

The dense strands made of silicone Herfeldt forms reach past display surfaces supporting them, sagging downwards below. Those twisted foam pipes bulge till they rupture. Certain pieces leave the display cases completely, turning into an attractor for dust and hair. Let's just say the ratings might not get pretty.

There are moments I feel this sense that objects are alive in a room,” states the sculptor. This is why I started using this foam material due to its this very bodily texture and feeling.”

Indeed one can detect almost visceral regarding these sculptures, from the suggestive swelling which extends, similar to a rupture, off its base at the exhibition's heart, and the winding tubes made of silicone that rupture as if in crisis. On one wall, the artist presents prints of the works captured in multiple views: they look like microscopic invaders seen in scientific samples, or formations in a lab setting.

What captivates me that there are things within us happening which possess independent existence,” Herfeldt explains. Phenomena you can’t see or command.”

Talking of unmanageable factors, the exhibition advertisement promoting the event includes an image of the leaky ceiling at her creative space in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The building had been erected decades ago and according to her, was instantly hated from residents as numerous historic structures were torn down in order to make way for it. It was already run-down when Herfeldt – who was born in Munich but grew up north of Hamburg then relocating to Berlin as a teenager – began using the space.

This deteriorating space was frustrating for the artist – placing artworks was difficult the sculptures without concern they might be damaged – yet it also proved compelling. With no building plans on hand, it was unclear how to repair the malfunctions that developed. When the ceiling panel at the artist's area got thoroughly soaked it collapsed entirely, the only solution meant swapping the panel with a new one – thus repeating the process.

In a different area, she describes the leaking was so bad so multiple collection units were installed above the false roof to channel the moisture elsewhere.

It dawned on me that this place was like a body, a completely flawed entity,” Herfeldt states.

The situation reminded her of the sci-fi movie, John Carpenter’s debut movie from the seventies concerning a conscious ship that takes on a life of its own. And as you might notice from the show’s title – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – other cinematic works influenced to have influenced Herfeldt’s show. These titles refer to the female protagonists in Friday 13th, another scary movie plus the sci-fi hit respectively. She mentions an academic paper by the American professor, that describes the last women standing an original movie concept – women left alone to overcome.

They often display toughness, rather quiet and they endure due to intelligence,” says Herfeldt regarding this trope. They avoid substances or engage intimately. It is irrelevant the audience's identity, we can all identify with the survivor.”

She draws a parallel from these protagonists with her creations – things that are just about holding in place despite the pressures they face. Is the exhibition more about social breakdown than just water damage? Because like so many institutions, such components intended to secure and shield us from damage in fact are decaying within society.

“Oh, totally,” says Herfeldt.

Earlier in her career using foam materials, the artist worked with alternative odd mediums. Previous exhibitions included forms resembling tongues made from a synthetic material found in in insulated clothing or in coats. Again there is the impression such unusual creations might animate – a few are compressed as insects in motion, pieces hang loosely on vertical planes blocking passages attracting dirt from footprints (Herfeldt encourages people to handle leaving marks on pieces). As with earlier creations, those fabric pieces are also housed in – and breaking out of – inexpensive-seeming acrylic glass boxes. These are unattractive objects, and really that’s the point.

“They have a specific look that somehow you feel highly drawn to, and at the same time being quite repulsive,” Herfeldt remarks with a smile. “It attempts to seem absent, but it’s actually very present.”

Herfeldt is not making pieces that offer comfortable or aesthetically soothed. Rather, her intention is to evoke unease, awkward, maybe even amused. However, should you notice a moist sensation overhead as well, remember you haven’t been warned.