WATCH OUT #9: Inga Krumme on Diane Häfner

WATCH OUT is an ongoing series in which curators present young artistic positions that they find exciting. Selected by Yvonne Scheja.

I cannot take my eyes off Diane Häfner's sculptures.

Indistinct body parts, plants, and patterns twist and merge. Orchids, genitalia, fruits, pearl necklaces, indecipherable textures come together in pastel porcelain bodies: shiny and absurd, as repelling as they are beautiful. Foam oozes out of gaps, and hair appears in unexpected places. Meissen, but make it Frankenstein. As still as they are, the sculptures seem as if they could start moving at any minute, slowly, like snakes intertwined in a slightly disgusting yet fascinating dance.

Disgust is central to Diane’s work. Floral motifs subtly incorporate it, hiding genitalia in blooms—understated but always present. The grotesque and the shocking are essential. For her, porcelain, loaded with romance and kitsch, needs to be broken. Without disruption, something would be missing. There is always a subtle break somewhere, hidden between the perfect porcelain, airbrush paint, and pastel colors. Her choice of motifs counteracts the romanticism of the material.

Diane's sculptures evoke associations with the bodily, both direct and indirect. Even when pieces lean toward fauna, hints of the human body always emerge. The interplay of body and disgust, body horror as a concept, is evident. She casts elements from anatomical models and massage tools, treating them like a positive and a negative, equivalent to her sculptural practice.

Even the color palette conveys a sense of skin, with velvety hues of paint blending and becoming more romantic through thin layers of pastel. How do they interact on a surface? Do they attract or repel each other? In challenging these questions, Diane handles her colors in a nearly painterly manner.

The process doesn't fully reveal itself to the spectator, making her sculptures remain peculiar and not immediately clear. In Diane Häfner's work, porcelain holds a mystery that I want to unravel, yet never fully solve.

About Inga

Inga Krumme is an architect by training and a curator, consultant, and editor by choice. She curates shows in off-spaces; the most recent one "full stop," was a group show in an old car workshop. Her next show (yet untitled) will take place in a boxing gym and explore the relationship between artistic practice and practicing martial arts, both in collaboration with artist Julius Bobke. Inga works and lives in Berlin in a 70s high-rise building, together with her cat, Eames.