Somatoform Tendencies by Ida Siebke, Human Waste Organic Waste by Jorge Manilla and Loop Pool by Petra Dalström

Artist list

Petra Dalström, Jorge Manilla, Ida Siebke

Ida Siebke
Somatoform Tendencies

"Can you relate to the feeling of chewing and chewing food endlessly? Chewing a piece so long that it feels as if it grows in your mouth, becoming fibrous and seemingly impossible to swallow? Not because the food isn’t good or because you’re not hungry, but because something is so indescribably uncomfortable that the ability to complete the eating process disappears. In the end, you’re forced to spit out the ‘chewing ball’ into a napkin, which you then shamefully fold up and hide beneath the edge of your plate."

In her artistic exploration of how psychological trauma can manifest physically, Siebke has focused on the stomach as an epicenter for somatoform disorders. Through a blown glass, she recreated the stomach, which resembles an inverted, curved pear attached to the oesophagus above and the colon below. These “stomachs” vary in abstraction, with some so abstracted that they are no longer recognizable.

We have observed Siebke’s tendency to combine materials in her previous work, though not to this extent. Integrated into the sculptures, and in sharp contrast to the soft, abstracted blown forms, are intricate body parts in cast glass, teeth made of acrylic resin, human hair, and cold, hard metal.

"Can you imagine being inflicted with a pain that brings along a psychological stowaway? Something unwanted that takes residence and seemingly occupies physical space,  yet cannot be medicated or removed. Through blown and cast glass combined with human material and metal, I have sought to recreate and translate the absurdity of existing in a body that no longer makes sense. I have given physical form to the experience of trauma residues accumulating to such a degree that they manifest in imagined pains and disturbances, occasionally redefining one’s sense of their own body."



Jorge Manilla
Human Waste / Organic Waste

The exhibition of Jorge Manilla's works is a collection of thoughts, feelings, and memories, which he describes as “a complex network of symbols.”

A nomad, migrating both physically and mentally, Jorge gathers fragments, reconstructing reality and memories of his native land. He employs a recognizable artistic approach that reflects the kind of nostalgia captured in artifacts: continuous engagement with materials, objets trouvés from the lands of Mexico…

Leather, birds' nests, seeds—these organic components are inextricably bound with artificial elements and techniques. This intertwining of the living and the dead, the contrast between the brutal essence of nature and the delicate craftsmanship of the artist, as well as the items we often define as waste and intricately cast metal fragments, gives rise to new chimera-like creations. Some of the objects in the exhibition are made from parts of plants that are broken and then reassembled. Is this not the life of an emigrant: to find oneself in a new context, to shatter against its otherness? These shards of oneself could signify the end, death, and the destruction of the flesh. But they could also be used to reassemble oneself, piece by piece, like a mosaic. The newly assembled mosaic doesn’t have to be perfect or match the originally intended version. These shards become the material for creating something and someone new. 

/ Text by Elena Karpilova



Loop / Pool
Petra Dalström

Time is often perceived as a line—a chronological, slender thread. There is a sense of importance in saying, “Everything has a beginning and an end.” We cling to this idea, feeling an urge to pause, to stop time. But time circles, spirals, curves, and eventually dissipates like sand.

For this exhibition, Petra Dalström has created a series of sculptures and installations that attempt to define an uncertain period through gravity. Ceramic vessels are filled with fine, delicate sand. A dark basin is filled with water to its brim. These objects act as sculptural hourglasses or small, truncated cycles—controlled delays or reference points that seek presence.

In her artistic practice, Dalström explores the functional and sensory qualities of various materials. She works with tangible, tactile substances such as copper, wax, and porcelain dust, as well as more elusive, intangible natural elements like time, gravity, light, and water. Her observations are transformed into fragile sculptures, kinetic installations, and narratives, where she often employs low-tech methods to create movement or progression within her works.

The exhibition is curated by Henriette Noermark.