The work Curling explores the state of a person in migration — a state between places, identities, and a sense of belonging. The curled body conveys inner tension and disorientation: the body continues to move and act while the mind has not yet caught up with what is happening. The grid behind the figure remains ambiguous — is it opening or closing?

The painting is executed in oil. It depicts an abstract figure in shades of brown and orange against a dark blue background. The figure is contorted and rendered in surreal proportions, appearing as though it has been squeezed into the picture. The figure’s head is in the top left-hand corner, its back extends to the top right-hand corner, one leg stretches diagonally across the picture towards the bottom left, whilst the other leg is compressed and the foot ends in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture. The elongated face has heavy eyelids and looks exhausted, and the mouth is not smiling. The face hovers slightly above the curled-up hands. The hands are elongated and look more like claws than fingers. Individual vertebrae are visible along the spine. There are red splashes of colour at the joints all over the body, giving the impression that they are in pain. The joints also appear knobbly and swollen. Behind the figure, in grey, is a shape that looks like cage bars and a curved shape with dots and a ring, which resemble a chain in a zoo.

Oil on canvas, 100 × 90 cm, 2026

Picture Description

Below you can find the description of the picture. It has not been written by the artist and has been added by the curators.

The painting is executed in oil. It depicts an abstract figure in shades of brown and orange against a dark blue background. The figure is contorted and rendered in surreal proportions, appearing as though it has been squeezed into the picture. The figure’s head is in the top left-hand corner, its back extends to the top right-hand corner, one leg stretches diagonally across the picture towards the bottom left, whilst the other leg is compressed and the foot ends in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture. The elongated face has heavy eyelids and looks exhausted, and the mouth is not smiling. The face hovers slightly above the curled-up hands. The hands are elongated and look more like claws than fingers. Individual vertebrae are visible along the spine. There are red splashes of colour at the joints all over the body, giving the impression that they are in pain. The joints also appear knobbly and swollen. Behind the figure, in grey, is a shape that looks like cage bars and a curved shape with dots and a ring, which resemble a chain in a zoo.

Common Threads Exhibition, 2026

From October 9 to 11, the exhibition “Common Threads” (Geteilte Fäden) was presented in Fürstenberg (Havel), Brandenburg, in October 2026. The exhibition is a collection of works by artists and collectives from Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and Germany. Some of these works were created during our educational trip to Moldova in April 2026 as part of the “Decolonizing Cultures of Remembrance” project.