A chimera is not a pet

“A chimera is not a pet” is Julia Klemm’s first solo exhibition at The Tiger Room, where she presents new ceramic works.

To construct her sculptures Julia Klemm not only uses found objects – mostly ceramic or porcelain figurines of pets – but also 3-D scans of public monuments that show animals as symbols of power and force. She breaks them up and reassembles them in strange and unexpected combinations.

Her work thus combines two different ways of relating to animals, the domestic and the public. In the first case, the relationship to the animal is apparently familiar; in the second, it is about the associations cultures have with the animal, whether scientific, historical or mythical.

A new element in this exhibition is the use of metal. The flat piece of steel that is cut, bent and twisted through the animal forms is the trace of the foreign. It escapes the human bond and is difficult to incorporate into clay.

Text: Magdalena Wisniowska