Ster Borgman (they/them) is an artist with a practice rooted in the exploration of natural processes and the transformative power of materials. Like an alchemist, they transform, extract, or fuse this chemistry. Ster extracts pigment from plants, melts sand into glass, and transforms rust into dripping red forms in glass. They inspire a sense of wonder in their audience for the non-human nature.
Ster is interested in the boundary where science meets magic, the place where we know too little to fully understand, but where we can still observe. Sometimes, a sensual nature emerges in their work, as they explore natural pigments and the biochemical relationship with the human body. Ster creates pigments from materials collected during walks and experiments with oxides from old metals, ground rocks, and plant-based dyes. Ster is also fascinated by the queerness of nature, which they see as something boundless and fluid. Think of the dripping of glass, the leaking of rust, and the delicious, almost sensual colours of flowers and plants. Through their alchemy, Ster tries to blur the colonial structure of science, which divides the world into different groups such as genders, atomic particles, and chemical processes.
