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When considering bathroom renovations, it's advisable to avoid hiring the sculptor for such tasks.

Truly, she's a whiz using sealant applicators, producing compelling sculptures out of an unusual art material. However longer you observe the artworks, the clearer you realise that something feels slightly off.

The dense tubes of sealant Herfeldt forms stretch over the shelves where they rest, hanging downwards below. Those twisted silicone strands expand till they rupture. Some creations escape their transparent enclosures completely, becoming a collector for dust and hair. It's safe to say the ratings are unlikely to earn positive.

“I sometimes have this sense that items are alive within a space,” says Herfeldt. This is why I came to use this foam material as it offers this very bodily feel and appearance.”

Indeed there’s something rather body horror in the artist's creations, starting with the suggestive swelling which extends, hernia-like, from its cylindrical stand in the centre of the gallery, to the intestinal coils of foam which split open resembling bodily failures. Displayed nearby, the artist presents images of the works captured in multiple views: they look like wormy parasites seen in scientific samples, or formations on culture plates.

What captivates me is the idea in our bodies taking place which possess their own life,” Herfeldt explains. Elements which remain unseen or command.”

On the subject of unmanageable factors, the poster promoting the event includes an image of water damage overhead in her own studio in Kreuzberg, Berlin. It was built in the early 1970s as she explains, faced immediate dislike among the community since many older edifices got demolished for its development. By the time dilapidated upon her – a native of that city but grew up near Hamburg before arriving in Berlin during her teens – began using the space.

The rundown building proved challenging for her work – placing artworks was difficult her pieces anxiously they might be damaged – but it was also compelling. Lacking architectural drawings accessible, nobody had a clue the way to fix the malfunctions that developed. After a part of the roof at the artist's area became so sodden it gave way completely, the sole fix was to replace it with another – thus repeating the process.

Elsewhere on the property, she describes the leaking was so bad that a series of collection units were set up above the false roof to channel the water to a different sink.

I understood that the building acted as a physical form, a completely flawed entity,” she says.

This scenario evoked memories of a classic film, John Carpenter’s debut cinematic piece featuring a smart spaceship which becomes autonomous. As the exhibition's title suggests through the heading – a trio of references – more movies have inspired to have influenced the artist's presentation. These titles refer to main characters from a horror classic, another scary movie plus the sci-fi hit as listed. Herfeldt cites a 1987 essay from a scholar, that describes these surviving characters as a unique film trope – women left alone to save the day.

They often display toughness, on the silent side and they endure due to intelligence,” says Herfeldt regarding this trope. No drug use occurs nor sexual activity. It is irrelevant the audience's identity, all empathize with the survivor.”

The artist identifies a connection between these characters with her creations – elements that barely maintaining position amidst stress affecting them. Is the exhibition focused on cultural decay beyond merely leaky ceilings? As with many structures, these materials that should seal and protect us from damage in fact are decaying in our environment.

“Oh, totally,” says Herfeldt.

Earlier in her career in the silicone gun, Herfeldt used different unconventional substances. Past displays included forms resembling tongues crafted from the kind of nylon fabric found in within outdoor gear or inside a jacket. Similarly, one finds the sense these peculiar objects might animate – some are concertinaed like caterpillars mid-crawl, some droop heavily off surfaces or spill across doorways gathering grime from contact (Herfeldt encourages people to handle and dirty her art). Like the silicone sculptures, the textile works also occupy – and breaking out of – cheap looking transparent cases. They’re ugly looking things, which is intentional.

“They have a specific look that somehow you feel compelled by, yet simultaneously appearing gross,” she says grinning. “It attempts to seem absent, yet in reality extremely obvious.”

Herfeldt is not making pieces that offer relaxation or aesthetically soothed. Rather, she aims for uncomfortable, awkward, maybe even amused. However, should you notice water droplets overhead as well, remember the alert was given.