wolf shaman – Teufelskunst

Exhibition Opening at Gallery CIRCLE1, Berlin 2017

*“Harvest” / “Sigilla Magica” installation at Circle1, Berlin November 2017*

The candles have been lit, the incense has been burnt; now my work vibrates inside of Berlin art gallery CIRCLE1 until December 23rd. Thanks to Avi Pitchon, who invited me to take part in this group exhibition, alongside renown international artists from Israel and Palestine!

What started as a simple idea years ago, has accumulated into a complex installation. Succeeding years of studying the plants first-hand and a rediscovered love for ink, suddenly things fell into place. It was preceded by searching and researching, sowing and growing, loss and gain via the very basic and earth-bound occupation as a gardener and harvester.

The installation is hence titled “Harvest“. It consists of an earth altar with dried plants and harvest related offerings: self baked bread, honey from the neighborhood and self-made beeswax candles. The souls and spirits that were contained in the once alive, now dead corpora of the plants, find a new house in the form of fetishistic ink drawings: the “Sigilla Magica” series.

With these new forms I found an own language, in which I seek to both entertain and communicate memes to the viewer. Twelve ink drawings reference eleven magical plants. A twelfth refers to the bee queen, “Regina Bombina“, governing the vital interaction between plants and pollinators. In addition, two anthropomorphic drawings depict the aconite and mandragora in half-human form, namely the armed and poison-dart struck “Wolf Shaman” and beheaded and re-headed “Regina Amandrakina” accompanied by her freakish offspring. Finally, two complimenting botanical studies of the roots of the aconite and mandragora act as a bridge between abstraction and realism and explore the individual and fascinating shape of each in detail.

Scroll down for impressions from the vernissage.

“Regina Amandrakina”, ink on coffee, wormwood, mandrake and blood
“Wolf Shaman”, ink on coffee, wormwood and aconite

*“Pathfinder”, ink on coffee, wormwood and mandrake*

*“Gorgon”, ink on coffee, wormwood and aconite*

“Regina Bombina”, ink on coffee and honey
“Autumn Crocus”, ink on coffee, wormwood and autumn crocus flower extract
“Mullein”, ink on coffee, wormwood and mullein

“Solomon’s Seal”, ink on coffee, wormwood and solomon’s seal root extract
“Fennel”, ink on coffee, wormwood and fennel seed extract

Video of the harvest installation – for each plant there is one ink drawing imbued with the corresponding plant tincture. What started out as a vague idea of creating individual artwork for a list of magical plants has years later finally taken shape. The works are part of “Bad Intentions” exhibition at @circle1gallery and can be viewed Thursday-Saturday, from 12:00 – 18:00, until Dec 23. #circle1 #berlin #gallery #exhibition #exhibitionopening #vernissage #installationart #harvest #magicalplants #plantamagica #witchplants #witchherbs #magicherbs #altar #ritual #ritualart #conceptart #inkdrawings #originalart #occultart #sigillamagica

A post shared by Wiebke Rost (@wiebkerost) on Nov 22, 2017 at 9:52am PST

Impressions from the exhibition opening at @circle1gallery Curator Avi Pitchon with the “Harvest” installation. It has been a huge honor for me to be able to show my work alongside such strong artists and especially within such a special cultural context. It means very much to me and I hope this is the beginning of something new… The exhibition runs until December 23. Go and check it out! #exhibitionopening #vernissage #gallery #circle1 #badintentions #art #sigillamagica #harvestinstallation #berlinart #artandculture

A post shared by Wiebke Rost (@wiebkerost) on Nov 21, 2017 at 4:10pm PST

More impressions from the exhibition opening at @circle1gallery – punk legend, writer and curator Avi Pitchon plays the protagonist in Keren Cytter’s short film “The Dates Series” (2004). #circle1 #badintentions #avipitchon #thedatesseries #shortfilm #kerencytter

A post shared by Wiebke Rost (@wiebkerost) on Nov 22, 2017 at 5:26pm PST

More impressions from the exhibition opening at @circle1gallery – the topic and objects gave food for thought. On the wall oposit my harvest altar you see the suicide hitler and the incredibly realistic miniature of a levitating suicide bomber by Osama Zatar. #circle1 #gallery #badintentions #exhibitionopening #vernissage #osamazatar #inthenameofgod #suicidehitler #meravkamel #halilbalabin #art #berlin

A post shared by Wiebke Rost (@wiebkerost) on Nov 22, 2017 at 6:20pm PST

Not so serious, the “Hourglass” by Merav Kamel and Halil Balabin #circle1 #exhibitionopening #berlingallery #badintentions #thehourglass #poppet #meravkamel #halilbalabin

A post shared by Wiebke Rost (@wiebkerost) on Nov 22, 2017 at 6:30pm PST

Thanks to all involved!

17.11.-23.12.2017 – Bad Intentions,
a group exhibition curated by Avi Pitchon and Alona Harpaz

Opening times:
Thursday – Saturday
12:00-18:00

CIRCLE1
Mittenwalder Straße 47
10961 Berlin

November 25, 2017

Posted In: Art, Events

Tags: planta magica, installation, art, ink drawings, magical plants, avi pitchon, plant mythology, israeli artists, wolf shaman, palestinian artists, exhibitions, regina bombina, poisonous plants, exhibition opening, experimental art, sigilla magica plantarum, gallery, conceptual art, harvest, circle 1, plant art, berlin, regina amandrakina, vernissage

Samhain Celebration 2017

*Carved horse skull by Kvlt&Knochen, featuring the Samhain Harvest Seal*

One week ago I took part in the second Samhain Celebration, hosted by the House of Inkantation, at The Londoner in Gotha. I attended bleary-eyed yet exited. I had worked until the very last minute on the artworks and merch, which included ink drawings of my sigilla magica, samples and glass jars with my self-made incense blends, the last Teufelskunst rosaries, postcards and the original art I had done for German doom band Werian.

The House of Inkantation folks prepared again a unique stage design, which was crowned by a horse skull, into which G. Bergfex of Kvlt&Knochen had carved and imbued with blood the official Samhain Harvest Seal. On the stage performed Rim Runa, Werian, Forndom, Sun of the Sleepless and Malokarpathan. Another special treat were the dedicated wooden boxes pyrographed by C. & M. Falkenstein.

*Dedicated box with VIP pass and leather amulet, pyrographed by House of Inkantation*

My company, the photographer Anne Ida Helmer, has set herself the goal to document me for a photo series – by all means not an easy task. But I was glad to have her around. We spend the whole weekend in Gotha, touching base and forging future plans. It was nice to finally meet some of the people in person, whom I had done artwork for, and to get to know new faces. I was overwhelmed by the support and interest in my work. This made me forget the sacrifices of the past weeks. It was also refreshing to get to witness new music, bands I had and had not heard of before. I come out of this gathering with new art commissions, possible participation in new events and more.

Thanks to all involved, who made this year’s celebration of the end of summer a success beyond expectations. Thanks in particular to the House of Inkantation/Eisenwald, Mosaic, Werian, Photos of Kaos, Kvlt&Knochen and friends from Austria and Switzerland, the rest of the merch team, Forndom and Anne.

Below some impressions…