Through my work I am trying to conserve ephemeral memory by inscribing it into the material, working across various media. We are learning through a process I call shadowing: when baking and kneading the dough I shadow my mother’s hands shadowing all the hands that came before her. This process requires a direct point of contact between generations, creating what Bernard Stiegler referred to as “long circuits”. We are thus following archaic gestural knowledge. Through my art, I aim to produce memory supports that according to Stiegler allow me to access “the past that is mine but that I have nevertheless not lived” as a way to make it accessible not only for me but a wider audience.

Living with a fear of loss I am trying to preserve fleeting gestures. The drastic slowing down of time happening when sealing objects hermetically from their outside makes it seem like no time passes on the inside - it feels like the inside is out with time and untouched by it. My visual inspiration comes from history museums, medical exhibits and household pantries.

Fear of loss

Installation: red earthenware clay, steel, wood, lithographs, light. By putting an everyday object in a dimly lit room behind glass, by putting it under the spotlight changes the meaning. This installation is to evoke the feeling of museum space: I am showcasing a metal shelving unit with clay and metal objects and jars in a dark room, using spotlights in order to elevate the profane into the realm of the sacred.

Instagram: @wilma.steinhagen