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If you're planning restroom upgrades, it might be wise to avoid engaging this German artist to handle it.

Indeed, Herfeldt is an expert using sealant applicators, creating intriguing sculptures out of an unusual art material. However longer you examine these pieces, the more it becomes apparent that something seems somewhat unnerving.

The dense strands from the foam she produces stretch over the shelves on which they sit, hanging downwards below. The gnarled foam pipes swell till they rupture. A few artworks leave their transparent enclosures fully, evolving into a magnet for dust and hair. It's safe to say the feedback might not get positive.

“I sometimes have the feeling that things seem animated inside an area,” says the German artist. Hence I turned to this substance as it offers a distinctly physical texture and feeling.”

Certainly there’s something almost visceral regarding the artist's creations, from that protruding shape which extends, like a medical condition, from the support in the centre of the gallery, or the gut-like spirals from the material that rupture like medical emergencies. Along a surface, are mounted prints showing the pieces viewed from different angles: resembling wormy parasites seen in scientific samples, or colonies on a petri-dish.

What captivates me is the idea within us taking place that also have a life of their own,” she says. Elements that are invisible or manage.”

On the subject of things she can’t control, the promotional image featured in the exhibition displays a picture of water damage overhead in her own studio in the German capital. Constructed built in the early 1970s as she explains, was quickly despised by local people as numerous older edifices were torn down for its development. It was already run-down upon her – who was born in Munich although she spent her youth in northern Germany prior to moving to the capital as a teenager – began using the space.

This deteriorating space proved challenging for her work – it was risky to display the sculptures without concern potential harm – yet it also proved compelling. Without any blueprints available, no one knew the way to fix the malfunctions that arose. After a part of the roof at the artist's area became so sodden it gave way completely, the single remedy involved installing it with another – thus repeating the process.

At another site, she describes dripping was extreme that a series of drainage containers were installed above the false roof in order to redirect the water to a different sink.

It dawned on me that this place acted as a physical form, an entirely malfunctioning system,” the artist comments.

This scenario brought to mind Dark Star, the director's first 1974 film featuring a smart spaceship that develops independence. And as you might notice through the heading – three distinct names – that’s not the only film impacting Herfeldt’s show. The three names indicate the leading women in the slasher film, another scary movie and the extraterrestrial saga as listed. The artist references an academic paper from a scholar, outlining these surviving characters as a unique film trope – women left alone to overcome.

They often display toughness, reserved in nature and she can survive because she’s quite clever,” she elaborates of the archetypal final girl. No drug use occurs nor sexual activity. And it doesn’t matter the audience's identity, we can all identify with the survivor.”

She draws a similarity between these characters with her creations – things that are just about maintaining position under strain they’re under. So is her work focused on societal collapse than just leaky ceilings? Similar to various systems, such components meant to insulate and guard us from damage in fact are decaying around us.

“Completely,” responds the artist.

Prior to discovering her medium using foam materials, Herfeldt used other unusual materials. Previous exhibitions included tongue-like shapes crafted from fabric similar to found in within outdoor gear or inside a jacket. Again there is the sense these peculiar objects might animate – certain pieces are folded like caterpillars mid-crawl, others lollop down on vertical planes or spill across doorways gathering grime from contact (The artist invites audiences to interact leaving marks on pieces). As with earlier creations, the textile works also occupy – and breaking out of – cheap looking acrylic glass boxes. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and really that’s the point.

“The sculptures exhibit a certain aesthetic which makes one highly drawn to, and at the same time they’re very disgusting,” she says amusedly. “It attempts to seem invisible, however, it is very present.”

The artist does not create pieces that offer relaxation or beauty. Conversely, she wants you to feel discomfort, awkward, or even humor. But if you start to feel something wet dripping overhead additionally, remember the alert was given.