An object transcends its physical existence, serving as more than just an object. It can become a symbol, evoke memories and fantasies, arouse desire or instil fear. It activates preconceived patterns of thought, scenarios of use and social roles. The work ­exhibited at the Kunsthalle Mannheim is part of a new series that juxtaposes everyday objects that still carry female connotations today.

[…] The small painting, which hangs on the large wall in the Kunsthalle’s atrium near the ­entrance to the studio space, acts as a prologue to an expansive installation inside. Visitors encounter a curious doubling effect as the work is repeated in a monumental format on the central wall. It covers the entire surface, seems to want to expand indefinitely, and eventually spills out onto the floor of the room. From its initial obedient confinement within its frame, the installation seems to have developed a life of its own. The work not only takes on a new format, but also a new ­materiality. Through the use of cleaning rags, sponges and other more or less everyday objects, the acrylic painting is transformed into an expansive collage. […]

Various processes of translation take place—from small to large format, from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, and from painting to collage or sculpture. As a viewer, one perceives their position in a new light. You are no longer standing in front of a small painting that you can easily take in at a glance, but in front of a larger-than-life, wall-sized work. […] The representation of objects with female connotations and their transformation from small-scale painting into the monumental material collage become deliberate artistic statements, challenging prevailing gender stereotypes that persist in our everyday lives as well as in art.

☐ Anja Heitzer,  catalog text for the exhibition STUDIO: Verena Issel at Kunsthalle Mannheim (excerpt)