Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg. The Black Pot

Nathalie Djurberg is best known for her provocative films that are produced using stop-motion animation and set to hypnotic music created by Hans Berg. In these works, plasticine figures enact absurd stories in scenes evocative of nightmares and morbid fantasies, with characters that personify some of the darkest aspects of human nature.

Although her visual language draws upon the aesthetics of childhood, Djurberg avoids sentimentality through exploring subconscious and taboo desires. A degree of allegory is characteristic of the artist's work, particularly through her use of archaic forms of narrative, such as the fable and myth, which are traditionally used to represent core archetypes of human behavior and their more extreme manifestations.

The Black Pot differs from previous works by Djurberg and Berg insofar as a poetic and metaphorical abstraction emerges within the fragmented narrative. Drawing on classical mythology, Djurberg plays with the subject of ontogenesis (the transformation of an organism from an egg to a mature form) in a panoramic installation where symbols of universal creation take on a very personal and poetic note. The exhibition also features new work, including sculptural seats that take the shape of everyday items, such as donuts or scrambled eggs.

Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg
The Black Pot