Iris Helena Hamers

Iris Helena Hamers creates visual worlds in the broadest sense – three-dimensional collages that spread out in space and occupy it. For her installations, she draws from an almost infinite pool of images from her own archive, which has grown over the years, as well as from photos, memes, screenshots or search engine results, which the artist extracts from the boundless expanses of the Internet. Often enough, this material also forms the basis for generating completely new images with the help of artificial intelligence. Digitally processed and assembled into backdrop-like sceneries, Hamers materialises spheres that can normally only be experienced virtually. She gives the image fragments an analogue dimension and fixed composition in space, which nevertheless changes continuously with the viewer’s movement and seems to follow its own inner logic. Real, but also generated natural motifs such as plants, rocks, fire or ice formations intertwine with mutant-like creatures and set pieces from social media. The spatial collages look like snapshots from animated computer worlds – as if they were in the process of being created. However, a linear narrative or clear sequence cannot be discerned. Instead, different temporalities, places and contexts come together and create a cosmos permeated by intense colours and artificial surfaces, which absorbs, penetrates and unites both virtual and real space.

The exhibition title Syzygy comes from Ancient Greek and means ‘team’ or ‘pairing’. The term refers to two or more things that are closely intertwined and influence each other. Accordingly, Iris Helena Hamers has developed two new installations that are related to each other as well as to the surrounding space.

Curator: Hannah Eckstein
Curatorial Assistant: Marisa Zeising

Exhibition opening: June 28, 2025, 6 pm