Harma Heikens - Pay no Mind

Harma Heikens (1963) creates a surreal world centred on themes of power, abuse, delusion and reality, decay and death. Her work is a potent mixture of influences from popular culture, religion and popular culture, intertwining personal experiences with social and political issues. Heikens' figures are often hybrid creations that contain a cartoonish humour, but their presence is simultaneously stark and dark. Her work is a visual reflection on the complex relationship between the individual, society and the wider political context.

In PAY NO MIND, Heikens presents seven recent images showing different aspects of her practice. The presentation consists of deformed, human-like figures whose primitive design is reminiscent of totems or golems. Fleshy and naked, they seem to be either frozen or resignedly awaiting their fate. Other works evoke a more carnivalesque feel: puppets writhing in painful, acrobatic poses.

Moving between discipline and disarray, the figures confront the viewer with the chaos hidden behind the ordering discipline of everyday life.