The sculptures want to be touched, to be experienced. The figures consist of contradictions, blurry borders and dangerous beauty. Elements are twisted to become others, they are intentionally mystified. Those things painful appear soft and comfortable. Their elaborate materiality functions as bait, luring you in until fully submerged. Only gradually do they reveals themselves, as that which remains unspoken emerges from its benevolent appearance.

My practice is driven by approaching and exposing underlying unease in subjects related to identity, (be)longing,  fantasies and the places where they meet in complex and illogical ways. The many shiny and colourful sculptures that often converge in an installation engage in dialogues, both with the viewer and amongst themselves. The viewer is denied an unequivocal answer. In this uncertainty, a state of in-between induced by all the smothering softness of the surrounding sculptures, I aim for a new comfort to be found that takes into account all exposed anxieties.

Larissa Esvelt (1998, Wageningen, NL) got her Bachelor’s in fine art at the department BEAR/fine art at ArtEZ, Arnhem in 2020. At This Art Fair she presents her work alongside fellow BEAR alumna Eva van Wenum.