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If you're planning bathroom renovations, you may want to avoid engaging this German artist for such tasks.

Truly, Herfeldt is highly skilled in handling foam materials, creating intriguing creations from this unlikely medium. However longer you observe the artworks, the stronger one notices a certain aspect is a little unnerving.

The dense tubes from the foam Herfeldt forms reach past their supports supporting them, drooping over the sides below. Those twisted tubular forms swell before bursting open. A few artworks break free from their acrylic glass box homes fully, turning into a collector for grime and particles. It's safe to say the ratings are unlikely to earn favorable.

At times I get an impression that items seem animated inside an area,” states the sculptor. This is why I started using this foam material because it has a distinctly physical sensation and look.”

In fact there is an element somewhat grotesque regarding these sculptures, including the phallic bulge jutting out, hernia-like, from its cylindrical stand in the centre of the gallery, or the gut-like spirals made of silicone which split open like medical emergencies. Displayed nearby, the artist presents images of the works seen from various perspectives: resembling squirming organisms picked up on a microscope, or growths on culture plates.

I am fascinated by is the idea inside human forms happening which possess independent existence,” the artist notes. “Things which remain unseen or control.”

On the subject of things she can’t control, the poster featured in the exhibition includes a picture of water damage overhead at her creative space located in Berlin. It was erected decades ago and, she says, was instantly hated among the community since many older edifices were removed in order to make way for it. The place was dilapidated as the artist – a native of that city although she spent her youth north of Hamburg prior to moving to the capital in her youth – began using the space.

This decrepit property was frustrating to Herfeldt – she couldn’t hang the sculptures without concern they might be damaged – however, it was intriguing. With no building plans accessible, nobody had a clue methods to address the problems that arose. Once an overhead section in Herfeldt’s studio was saturated enough it collapsed entirely, the only solution involved installing the panel with a new one – thus repeating the process.

In a different area, Herfeldt says the leaking was so bad that a series of collection units were set up within the drop ceiling in order to redirect the moisture elsewhere.

I understood that the structure acted as a physical form, an entirely malfunctioning system,” Herfeldt states.

These conditions evoked memories of a classic film, the director's first 1974 film concerning a conscious ship that takes on a life of its own. And as you might notice from the show’s title – a trio of references – more movies have inspired shaping this exhibition. The three names point to the female protagonists from a horror classic, the iconic thriller and Alien in that order. The artist references a critical analysis written by Carol J Clover, outlining the last women standing as a unique film trope – protagonists by themselves to save the day.

“She’s a bit tomboyish, rather quiet and they endure due to intelligence,” says Herfeldt about such characters. They avoid substances or engage intimately. It is irrelevant the audience's identity, we can all identify with the survivor.”

She draws a connection from these protagonists to her artworks – elements that barely staying put under strain they face. So is her work really concerning cultural decay beyond merely water damage? Because like so many institutions, such components intended to secure and shield from deterioration in fact are decaying within society.

“Oh, totally,” says Herfeldt.

Prior to discovering her medium in the silicone gun, the artist worked with other unusual materials. Past displays featured forms resembling tongues made from fabric similar to you might see on a sleeping bag or in coats. Again there is the feeling these peculiar objects might animate – certain pieces are folded like caterpillars mid-crawl, others lollop down on vertical planes or spill across doorways collecting debris from touch (She prompts audiences to interact leaving marks on pieces). Similar to the foam artworks, those fabric pieces are also housed in – and breaking out of – cheap looking acrylic glass boxes. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and that's the essence.

“They have a particular style which makes one highly drawn to, while also appearing gross,” the artist comments amusedly. “It tries to be absent, however, it is very present.”

Herfeldt is not making pieces that offer relaxation or visual calm. Conversely, her intention is to evoke unease, awkward, maybe even amused. But if you start to feel water droplets on your head additionally, remember you haven’t been warned.