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Should you be thinking about washroom remodeling, it might be wise not to choose engaging this German artist to handle it.

Indeed, Herfeldt is an expert with a silicone gun, crafting compelling sculptures with a surprising substance. Yet as you examine the artworks, the more one notices that an element is a little off.

Those hefty tubes from the foam she produces reach past their supports on which they sit, drooping off the edges below. The gnarled silicone strands expand before bursting open. Certain pieces break free from their transparent enclosures fully, turning into a collector for grime and particles. Let's just say the reviews would not be pretty.

There are moments I feel this sense that things possess life inside an area,” remarks Herfeldt. “That’s why I started using silicone sealant as it offers this very bodily feel and appearance.”

Certainly there’s something rather body horror about Herfeldt’s work, from the phallic bulge that protrudes, similar to a rupture, from the support at the exhibition's heart, to the intestinal coils of foam that burst resembling bodily failures. On one wall, are mounted images of the works seen from various perspectives: appearing as squirming organisms seen in scientific samples, or formations on a petri-dish.

I am fascinated by is how certain elements in our bodies taking place that also have a life of their own,” Herfeldt explains. Elements which remain unseen or command.”

Regarding things she can’t control, the poster for the show displays an image showing a dripping roof at her creative space located in Berlin. Constructed erected decades ago and according to her, faced immediate dislike among the community since many old buildings got demolished to allow its construction. By the time in a state of disrepair as the artist – originally from Munich although she spent her youth near Hamburg before arriving in Berlin in her youth – moved in.

This deteriorating space proved challenging to Herfeldt – she couldn’t hang her art works without fearing potential harm – but it was also fascinating. Without any blueprints on hand, nobody had a clue methods to address the problems that arose. When the ceiling panel at the artist's area was saturated enough it collapsed entirely, the sole fix meant swapping the panel with a new one – and so the cycle continued.

At another site, Herfeldt says dripping was extreme so multiple shower basins were installed in the suspended ceiling to channel the water to a different sink.

“I realised that the building acted as a physical form, a completely flawed entity,” the artist comments.

The situation brought to mind the sci-fi movie, the director's first cinematic piece featuring a smart spaceship that develops independence. As the exhibition's title suggests given the naming – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – that’s not the only film impacting the artist's presentation. These titles indicate main characters in Friday 13th, the iconic thriller plus the sci-fi hit respectively. The artist references an academic paper from a scholar, outlining these surviving characters an original movie concept – women left alone to overcome.

These figures are somewhat masculine, reserved in nature and they endure due to intelligence,” she elaborates about such characters. “They don’t take drugs or engage intimately. Regardless the audience's identity, everyone can relate to this character.”

The artist identifies a parallel between these characters and her sculptures – elements that barely holding in place amidst stress they face. So is her work really concerning social breakdown than just dripping roofs? Because like so many institutions, substances like silicone intended to secure and shield us from damage in fact are decaying within society.

“Absolutely,” says Herfeldt.

Before finding inspiration using foam materials, she experimented with other unusual materials. Previous exhibitions included organic-looking pieces crafted from fabric similar to typical for on a sleeping bag or in coats. Once more, there's the sense these strange items seem lifelike – certain pieces are folded like caterpillars mid-crawl, some droop heavily on vertical planes blocking passages attracting dirt from footprints (Herfeldt encourages viewers to touch and soil the works). As with earlier creations, these nylon creations also occupy – and breaking out of – inexpensive-seeming acrylic glass boxes. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and that's the essence.

“These works possess a specific look which makes one very attracted to, and at the same time appearing gross,” Herfeldt remarks with a smile. “It attempts to seem absent, yet in reality very present.”

The artist does not create art to provide comfortable or beauty. Conversely, she aims for uncomfortable, strange, maybe even amused. However, should you notice a moist sensation on your head too, consider yourself you haven’t been warned.