Ajla R. Steinvåg

The work method of the artist Ajla R. Steinvåg is that of a clinical researcher. To her anatomy, pathology and surgery are not only a source of aesthetic imagery, but the ideas, processes and techniques that the body undergoes are equally important. Steinvåg works in the prolongation of reality to which she refers and wants to make us aware of the materialistic processes in our body, identity and physical integrity as a part of nature. Instead of the illusion that we can avoid illness, during the Dutch Design Week Steinvåg confronted the public with the beauty of imperfection, susceptibility, vulnerability and mortality.

Investigation of the Solid State is a continuation of the research into simulations of bio-ceramic implants and skeletal metamorphosis in humans caused by pathological conditions such as inflammation, heterotopic ossification and reverse ossification. Ajla R. Steinvåg investigates the pathological phenomena of calcification of calcium phosphate in humans and the role of bacteria in this process; a metamorphosis of physical forms caused by (nano)bacteria in de-calcifications and re-calcifications processes. Ancient (nano)bacteria, cofounders of life generate formations of calcium phosphate crystals, seemingly causing numerous pathological conditions in humans. Since bacteria play an important role in pathogenesis, the mechanism that causes disease, we could better approach disease from a less human centered point of view. Could pathological processes be reversed through a technical reconditioning of the biological? This project  investigates ideas around medical reconstruction of the body and its capacity to regenerate itself if enhanced by bacteria, theoretically, practically and visually. In the stratigraphic body, from its surface to deeper structures, ancient animate and inanimate material processes morph right at the core of our being.