Anais Öst
Rifting: Aftershock
Steel, 110 x 40 x 220 cm
© Anais Öst.

Rifting: Aftershock

A half dozen plumes of serrated dancing metal issue forth in from a contrastingly smooth monolithic plinth; beaded at its vertices. Propelled by the slow violence of tectonics, they thrust upwards each with its own character. Some diminutive and dependent, others confident and tall.

We see both a representation of fire and its aftermath. Martian tones of rusted brown, orange and gray combine to create a sedimentary feel. The jagged boundaries self reference in fractalised form. Danger is clear and present but as it is viewed from above feels minaturised and contained.

Simultaneously, there is a foliate feel of tenderness and delicacy. The aged and immolated fronds imbue this mountain-like monument with an organic tenor. Speculation is invited as to what, in the aeons of geological time that await, will evolve from this rifting.

As one great furnace flamed;
  yet from those flames
No light;
  but rather darkness visible


John Milton
Paradise Lost

Part of a group exhibition Donde Comenzamos at The Bomb Factory Holborn from 03 to 08 July 2025, curated by Celeste Melgar.