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If you're planning restroom upgrades, you may want not to choose hiring this German artist for the job.

Truly, Herfeldt is a whiz using sealant applicators, crafting compelling artworks out of an unusual substance. But longer you look at the artworks, the stronger one notices that something seems somewhat strange.

The thick strands of sealant Herfeldt forms stretch past their supports where they rest, sagging downwards below. The gnarled silicone strands expand before bursting open. Some creations break free from the display cases completely, becoming an attractor of debris and fibers. One could imagine the feedback might not get favorable.

There are moments I feel this sense that things are alive in a room,” says the German artist. Hence I turned to this foam material due to its such an organic texture and feeling.”

Certainly one can detect almost visceral regarding Herfeldt’s work, from that protruding shape which extends, hernia-like, from its cylindrical stand at the exhibition's heart, to the intestinal coils from the material that rupture as if in crisis. Along a surface, Herfeldt has framed images depicting the sculptures viewed from different angles: resembling squirming organisms seen in scientific samples, or formations in a lab setting.

What captivates me that there are things within us happening which possess independent existence,” Herfeldt explains. Phenomena you can’t see or manage.”

On the subject of unmanageable factors, the promotional image for the show includes a picture of the leaky ceiling at her creative space located in Berlin. Constructed made in the seventies as she explains, was instantly hated among the community as numerous historic structures got demolished in order to make way for it. By the time run-down as the artist – originally from Munich yet raised north of Hamburg prior to moving to the capital during her teens – took up residence.

This decrepit property was frustrating for the artist – she couldn’t hang her art works without concern potential harm – yet it also proved intriguing. Lacking architectural drawings on hand, no one knew the way to fix the malfunctions that developed. Once an overhead section at the artist's area was saturated enough it gave way completely, the only solution involved installing it with another – perpetuating the issue.

Elsewhere on the property, Herfeldt says dripping was extreme that a series of drainage containers got placed within the drop ceiling in order to redirect leaks to another outlet.

I understood that this place was like a body, a completely flawed entity,” the artist comments.

This scenario reminded her of Dark Star, the director's first movie from the seventies featuring a smart spaceship which becomes autonomous. As the exhibition's title suggests given the naming – Alice, Laurie & Ripley – other cinematic works influenced shaping Herfeldt’s show. Those labels indicate the leading women in the slasher film, another scary movie and the extraterrestrial saga respectively. Herfeldt cites a 1987 essay by the American professor, outlining these “final girls” a distinctive cinematic theme – protagonists by themselves to overcome.

“She’s a bit tomboyish, rather quiet enabling their survival because she’s quite clever,” says Herfeldt about such characters. No drug use occurs or engage intimately. And it doesn’t matter who is watching, all empathize with this character.”

She draws a parallel linking these figures to her artworks – elements that barely holding in place amidst stress affecting them. Is the exhibition more about societal collapse rather than simply leaky ceilings? As with many structures, these materials intended to secure and shield against harm in fact are decaying in our environment.

“Completely,” says Herfeldt.

Earlier in her career with sealant applicators, Herfeldt used other unusual materials. Past displays included forms resembling tongues using a synthetic material found in on a sleeping bag or apparel lining. Similarly, one finds the sense these strange items could come alive – some are concertinaed like caterpillars mid-crawl, some droop heavily off surfaces blocking passages collecting debris from touch (Herfeldt encourages viewers to touch leaving marks on pieces). Like the silicone sculptures, the textile works also occupy – and escaping from – cheap looking transparent cases. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and really that’s the point.

“The sculptures exhibit a certain aesthetic that somehow you feel highly drawn to, while also being quite repulsive,” she says grinning. “It attempts to seem absent, however, it is extremely obvious.”

Herfeldt is not making work to make you feel relaxation or visual calm. Instead, she aims for unease, strange, maybe even amused. However, should you notice water droplets overhead too, remember this was foreshadowed.