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What is the duration of a cigarette being smoked, of a seed becoming a
plant, of a washed fabric to dry, of a cucumber becoming a scent, of an
envelope becoming a memory? The works of Sina Hensel all bear the notion of transformation and the passing of time. The
gentle observation of quotidian events underlines how unremarkable
situations can be compelling acts, associated with a complex
infrastructure of environmental relationships. Whether she grows
coloring plants from seeds in a greenhouse or different types of algae
whose biomass will dye fabric, whether she produces pigment from smoke
or a scent out of cucumber, whether she travels to a mountain in the
South of France to acquire a pigment that is only harvested there, the
actions that take place beforehand to gather material are embedded in
the layers of paint. A sediment of time or a pre-oil equation. Her
studio becomes a place of cohabitation, the different species acting as
her accomplices while working, studying her while she is studying them.
One material is there for or because of the other. Sometimes these
processes of growth can take up to years, not following any code of
efficiency, yet demanding her kind care and attentiveness. Dealing with
the texture of transformation, the works, clothed in light, are bound to
alter. Ambient processes, that support change, seasonality and
vanishing are her interest. However, the works themselves talk softly,
images of rest and quiet, their form commanded by the process. This being the case, the spectator becomes aware of a 'here and now'
that is experienced by following the path that the different fragments of
her exhibition suggest. They, quite subtly, keep asking from what
overflow of ramified responsibility the being is running. |