Curiosity and a desire to try to understand characterize Ingela Ihrman’s way of working, where scientific facts and field studies can serve as starting points. She works with sculpture, performance, video and text and often uses everyday, recognizable and fragile materials. In her works, she questions how we systematically categorize and exploit nature – of which we ourselves are a part – at the same time as we like to longingly highlight it as something untouched and original.
Using sculptural costumes, she literally assumes the guise of other living species while simultaneously exploring the possibilities and limitations of her own body. What does it mean to be someone or something? How is a self formed in a body? What significance does the body have for how we see the world and how we are seen? The costume becomes an extra layer of skin and flesh that encapsulates and hides one’s own outline in favor of another. Ihrman sees her performances as social situations where the viewer is involved and realizes the work together with her.
The exhibition at Malmö Konsthall is the largest presentation of Ingela Ihrman’s artistry to date. In the exhibition’s audio guide, Ihrman himself talks about his works. Download the app “A guided tour” for free via the App Store or Google Play.
