Like a leaf clings to a treeeee
2022
stainless steel, metall chain, styrofoam
95x95x12 cm
The work was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to prevent virus spread—the mandated distance, medical masks, and widespread isolation.
Even in 2025, women* continue to fight for autonomy over their bodies. The citation of 13,320 sexual assault cases in Germany in 2024 starkly underscores ongoing threats, linking individual safety to societal failure. Walking home alone at night often evokes fear, vulnerability, and a profound sense of helplessness.
The physical interventions—helmets with sharp edges and towering stilts —function symbolically as extensions of bodily space, reconceptualizing personal boundaries. These objects subvert physical vulnerability into visual and physical assertion, creating an aura of power and deterrence. The aggressive design implies a boundary that cannot be crossed without consequences, literally protecting the wearer but also making approaching intimacy dangerous or impossible.
The simultaneous empowerment and isolation presented by these objects reveal contradictions in the strategies of self-protection. The wearer gains confidence and respect but at the cost of limited mobility, increased self-risk, and restricted emotional connection. The inability to receive affection symbolizes the emotional isolation enforced by protective defensiveness.
Fundamentally, this work serves as a dystopian critique of societal conditions that necessitate such extreme self-defense. It challenges viewers to question how far society has receded from trust and safety, forcing individuals into physical and psychological armor just to claim their fundamental right to bodily autonomy.
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