SOMEHOW YOU ARE STILL HERE, 2026

The project was created in memory of Alek - an extraordinary girl who was only twenty-two years old when she passed away. The entire project took nearly a year to complete, involving close collaboration with Alek’s parents and sister. The design—including all its symbolism—as well as the gathering, selection, and preparation of all its components evolved, thanks to the parents’ great dedication and active participation, into a process of mourning and healing for them. Alek often sat under the tree in the garden, watching the play of light and the glimmering through the leaves. Alek was fragile but surprisingly strong. The twenty-two scattered rose petals refer to the twenty-two years she lived.

SOMEHOW YOU ARE STILL HERE captures the presence of who is absent. This subtle and sensitive installation consists of seemingly insignificant natural elements, cast in bronze and scattered around. Several elements were placed at other locations, creating a presence somewhere else as well, and some were portable which meant they could even be taken along by people (on their travels). A few bronze elements were painted, while others were casually adorned with rough crystals.

The bronze installation with all its various elements captures the different stages of blooming. It explores the tension between transience and permanence, fragility and resilience, and from being overlooked and neglected, to being chosen and remembered.