Janina Lange: ELSA : Verena Kerfin Gallery, Köthener Strasse 28, Berlin 10963
Past
exhibition
Overview
Janina Lange
Weather phenomena reflect the interplay of natural forces and demonstrate an awe-inspiring and unpredictable transformation of matter. To understand and control these ephemeral events, humans have developed meteorological tools and, simultaneously, assigned anthropomorphic traits to weather by naming and depicting its mythical causes.
Janina Lange’s sculptures and video works explore the sensuous aspects of weather phenomena, intertwining them with mythological narratives centered around feminine figures. By invoking characters like the Rain Dove, ice princess Elsa, and Paracelsian Sylphs, the works connect women to thermal and elemental transformations—freezing, burning, steaming, flooding—manifested in her video piece Tempesta. This compilation juxtaposes cinematic portrayals of weather witches, goddesses, and ethereal beings, challenging historical representations that tie femininity to nature and its volatility.
Her installations materialize weather’s fleeting moments. Lightning’s impact, captured through translucent ground casts, exemplifies this effort to solidify and translate the ephemeral into physical form. Techniques like 3D scanning, stereolithography, and burn-out glass casting transform these fleeting electrical forces into sculptures. Similarly, hailstone dents on a reflective BMW hood narrate destructive natural phenomena. The polished surface bends and refracts light into geometric patterns, revealing the interplay between accidental impacts and engineered precision.
Through the concept of diffraction—an idea rooted in feminist theory—her works challenge and deconstruct binary frameworks of nature versus culture. Diffraction, both a material and intellectual process, encourages new ways of perceiving and understanding the interrelation of nature, gender, and technology.
By integrating optical illusions and diffraction, Janina Lange invites us to rethink conventional relationships between nature, gender, and progress. Her works offer a nuanced perspective, fostering open-ended interpretations of weather and its technical and cultural representations.
Janina Lange’s sculptures and video works explore the sensuous aspects of weather phenomena, intertwining them with mythological narratives centered around feminine figures. By invoking characters like the Rain Dove, ice princess Elsa, and Paracelsian Sylphs, the works connect women to thermal and elemental transformations—freezing, burning, steaming, flooding—manifested in her video piece Tempesta. This compilation juxtaposes cinematic portrayals of weather witches, goddesses, and ethereal beings, challenging historical representations that tie femininity to nature and its volatility.
Her installations materialize weather’s fleeting moments. Lightning’s impact, captured through translucent ground casts, exemplifies this effort to solidify and translate the ephemeral into physical form. Techniques like 3D scanning, stereolithography, and burn-out glass casting transform these fleeting electrical forces into sculptures. Similarly, hailstone dents on a reflective BMW hood narrate destructive natural phenomena. The polished surface bends and refracts light into geometric patterns, revealing the interplay between accidental impacts and engineered precision.
Through the concept of diffraction—an idea rooted in feminist theory—her works challenge and deconstruct binary frameworks of nature versus culture. Diffraction, both a material and intellectual process, encourages new ways of perceiving and understanding the interrelation of nature, gender, and technology.
By integrating optical illusions and diffraction, Janina Lange invites us to rethink conventional relationships between nature, gender, and progress. Her works offer a nuanced perspective, fostering open-ended interpretations of weather and its technical and cultural representations.
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