14/05/2026
INA BIERSTEDT
Belongings
11.04.-9.05.2026
Opening on Friday, 15.05.2026 at 7 pm
LAURA MARS GALLERY
Bülowstraße 52 - 10783 Berlin - lauramars.de
Open hours: Wed-Fri 1-7, Sat 1-6 pm
The title of Ina Bierstedt’s solo exhibition at the Laura Mars Gallery is ambiguous and refers to forms of connection—or, as the artist herself describes it, to things we preserve and have become “attached” to over time. There are many forms of belonging, especially in the context of cultural, national, and social identity. Using painted, often glass objects and other items, Bierstedt establishes connections between humans and the material world while simultaneously exploring the pictorial boundaries of traditional still lifes. In her paintings, however, these do not appear static. Rather It is the individual and collective memory of the material that is reflected on the colored glass surfaces and, depending on the interplay of light and perspective, from within. Bierstedt extends this interest to landscapes and architecture as carriers of (ambivalent) memory. Through her painting, the artist raises questions about the origin, cultural value, and personal significance of these objects. Some elements remain deliberately distorted, appear fragile, and bear gaps as well as traces of actions. The past is only temporarily a time set aside. Through memory, we construct meanings for the present from the storehouse of the past. If we do not assign meaning to it, we forget what happened.
Drawing on her political experiences, Bierstedt incorporates historical research into her work. Her sources include archives, textual and visual materials, as well as her own photographs. With these, she constructs a kind of artistic mind map that opens up associative spaces of thought in the present. Like an archaeologist, she transfers these layer by layer into a context that is not merely pictorial. Often, the process of “carving in and out” remains visible on the textile surfaces. The motifs have been viewed on multiple occasions: when they are discovered, when they are photographed, and when they are painted, before being seen once again as paintings in the exhibition belongings. Despi
