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If you're planning restroom upgrades, it's advisable not to choose employing this German artist for such tasks.

Certainly, Herfeldt is a whiz with a silicone gun, creating fascinating sculptures from this unlikely art material. Yet as you observe these pieces, the more you realise a certain aspect is a little strange.

The thick lengths made of silicone Herfeldt forms reach beyond display surfaces where they rest, sagging off the edges below. The knotty silicone strands swell until they split. Certain pieces escape the display cases entirely, turning into a magnet for dust and hair. It's safe to say the ratings would not be pretty.

There are moments I feel the feeling that items possess life within a space,” says the sculptor. This is why I started using this foam material as it offers this very bodily feel and appearance.”

Certainly there’s something somewhat grotesque about Herfeldt’s work, including the suggestive swelling jutting out, hernia-like, from its cylindrical stand within the showspace, to the intestinal coils made of silicone that rupture resembling bodily failures. On one wall, Herfeldt has framed photocopies of the works viewed from different angles: they look like microscopic invaders picked up on a microscope, or growths on culture plates.

“It interests me that there are things within us occurring that also have a life of their own,” she says. Elements that are invisible or manage.”

Regarding elements beyond her influence, the promotional image for the show includes an image of the leaky ceiling in her own studio located in Berlin. Constructed built in the early 1970s as she explains, faced immediate dislike among the community as numerous older edifices were removed to allow its construction. The place was dilapidated upon her – who was born in Munich yet raised north of Hamburg then relocating to Berlin during her teens – moved in.

This decrepit property was frustrating to Herfeldt – she couldn’t hang her pieces without concern risk of ruin – but it was also intriguing. Without any blueprints available, no one knew the way to fix any of the issues that arose. Once an overhead section in Herfeldt’s studio got thoroughly soaked it collapsed entirely, the single remedy involved installing the damaged part – perpetuating the issue.

In a different area, she describes the water intrusion was severe so multiple drainage containers were set up in the suspended ceiling to divert leaks to another outlet.

“I realised that this place acted as a physical form, an entirely malfunctioning system,” Herfeldt states.

These conditions evoked memories of a classic film, the director's first 1974 film about an AI-powered spacecraft that develops independence. Additionally, observers may note from the show’s title – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – other cinematic works influenced impacting this exhibition. Those labels point to the female protagonists in the slasher film, Halloween plus the sci-fi hit in that order. She mentions a critical analysis by the American professor, outlining these surviving characters as a unique film trope – women left alone to triumph.

They often display toughness, on the silent side and she can survive due to intelligence,” the artist explains regarding this trope. No drug use occurs or have sex. Regardless the audience's identity, we can all identify with the survivor.”

She draws a similarity from these protagonists with her creations – things that are just about holding in place amidst stress they face. So is her work really concerning societal collapse than just dripping roofs? As with many structures, such components intended to secure and shield against harm are gradually failing in our environment.

“Absolutely,” responds the artist.

Prior to discovering her medium with sealant applicators, she experimented with different unconventional substances. Previous exhibitions featured organic-looking pieces using fabric similar to you might see on a sleeping bag or in coats. Once more, there's the impression these peculiar objects might animate – a few are compressed as insects in motion, some droop heavily on vertical planes blocking passages attracting dirt from footprints (The artist invites people to handle leaving marks on pieces). Similar to the foam artworks, these nylon creations also occupy – and escaping from – budget-style display enclosures. They’re ugly looking things, which is intentional.

“They have a particular style which makes one very attracted to, and at the same time being quite repulsive,” she says grinning. “The art aims for absent, however, it is very present.”

Herfeldt is not making art to provide relaxation or aesthetically soothed. Instead, her intention is to evoke discomfort, strange, perhaps entertained. However, should you notice something wet dripping overhead additionally, remember this was foreshadowed.