Parable of the Moths

Laura Franzmann, Hugo Laporte, Gitte Maria Möller,
Hannah Rose Stewart

Co-curated by Christina Gigliotti, Sigrid Hermann, and Catherine Wang

At June, Berlin

February 05 — 26, 2022

The title of the exhibition Parable of the Moths draws inspiration from Octavia Butler’s science fiction novel Parable of the Sower (1993). Set in a not so far future in an environmentally damaged and socially tumultuous Southern California, the young protagonist Lauren Oya Olamina flees from her home to escape ecological and societal collapse. Lauren experiences unspeakable tragedy and loss, mostly due to the violence and desperation of those around her who are struggling to survive off of minimal resources. She soon starts to realize that the ways of her parents and older generations are no longer applicable to present day catastrophe, and begins to develop a new paradigm called Earthseed, which focuses on adaptation, trust, and change as necessities for finding meaning among chaos, community building, and most importantly, survival.

 

Parable of the Moths presents work by Laura Franzmann, Hugo Laporte, Gitte Maria Möller and Hannah Rose Stewart. Within their work, each of these artists grapple with their material and existential reality. By visually examining shared experience through storytelling, making, and recontextualizing the present, the works on view express, imagine, and hope for a more ecologically and socially sound future.

 

Moths symbolize tremendous change. Interspersed throughout the exhibition, these winged creatures are in their final metamorphic stage, also known as imaginal stage or imago. Etymologically linked to imagination, their transformative status allegorically alludes to the speculative space that the artists carve out from their collective reality.

 

“All that you touch you change.
All that you change changes you.
The only lasting truth is change.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

— June, Berlin

 

Exhibition view
Laura Franzmann, brown moth 2018/2022 30 x 25 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers
Laura Franzmann, white moth 2018/2022 50 x 30 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers | Laura Franzmann, gray moth 2018/2022 40 x 25 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers
Laura Franzmann, white moth 2018/2022 50 x 30 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers | Laura Franzmann, gray moth 2018/2022 40 x 25 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers
Laura Franzmann, gray moth 2018/2022 40 x 25 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers
Laura Franzmann, white moth 2018/2022 50 x 30 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers | Laura Franzmann, gray moth 2018/2022 40 x 25 cm faux fur, velvet and acrylic feelers
Hugo Laporte, Clean Hands / Dirty Money 2022 14.5 x 6 cm tin
Hugo Laporte, Clean Hands / Dirty Money 2022 14.5 x 6 cm tin
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Hannah Rose Stewart, Untitled 001 2022 76 x 56.5 cm graphite on paper
Hannah Rose Stewart, Untitled 001 2022 76 x 56.5 cm graphite on paper
Hannah Rose Stewart, Untitled 002 2022 75.5 x 60 cm graphite on paper
Hugo Laporte, En attendant la guerre, phase II 2021 70 x 60 x 70 cm 10 kg glass, concrete, ceramic, PLA, lens, crystals, light bulb,fluffy charm
Hugo Laporte, En attendant la guerre, phase II 2021 70 x 60 x 70 cm 10 kg glass, concrete, ceramic, PLA, lens, crystals, light bulb,fluffy charm
Exhibition view
Hugo Laporte, Untitled 2022 30 x 15 x 15 cm CD-rom, PLA, screens, ashes, velvet, silver
Hugo Laporte, Untitled 2022 30 x 15 x 15 cm CD-rom, PLA, screens, ashes, velvet, silver
Gitte Maria M ller, Attic 2022 32 x 28 cm digital print on perspex, wire frame
Exhibition view
Hugo Laporte, Morning Chaos, Eternity Chaos... 2022 108 x 52 x 48 cm suitcase, pigmented silicone, bone, medals, concrete,plaster, metal, pump, epoxy resin, fishing line
Gitte Maria M ller, Dust Bunny 2022 29 x 29 cm digital print on perspex, wire frame
Gitte Maria M ller, Dust Bunny 2022 29 x 29 cm digital print on perspex, wire frame
Exhibition view
Hannah Rose Stewart, Untitled 003 2022 76 x 57 cm graphite on paper
Hannah Rose Stewart, Untitled 004 2022 76 x 57 cm graphite on paper
Hugo Laporte, Untitled 2022 14 x 52 x 48 cm suitcase, concrete, silicone
Exhibition view
Gitte Maria M ller, Crown of Thorns 2021 15 x 19 cm pencil crayon on paper
Gitte Maria M ller, Crown of Thorns 2021 15 x 19 cm pencil crayon on paper
Exhibition view