Childhood memories of small, harmless fireworks, such as the “Lady Cracker” or, in Swiss German, the “Frauenfurz” (literally “woman’s fart”), form the starting point of this work. Only these tiny firecrackers are playfully referred to as “Frauenfürze” — a term for something seemingly insignificant and harmless, often socially dismissed or laughed at.

In an earlier sculptural work, I enlarged a bundle of tied “farts” to the size of sticks of dynamite, making the invisible visible and questioning the trivialization of female forms of expression.

Through the monumental enlargement of these burn marks, they become visible signs of female presence. The harmless “Frauenfürze” are given space and significance, emerging as a humorous, powerful, and poetic subversion of patriarchal notions.

In this work, I also focus on the painterly effect created by the explosive ignition of these small fireworks on a white surface. The microscopic burn marks arise by chance, following the laws of nature — according to the principle: the explosions themselves create the image.

 

 

 

 

 

“Ladycracker Paintings”
Inkjetprint
each 103 x 140 cm
2023