I imagined the earth as young, warm and very new. It smells like rain, salt and brimstone. It is a genesis but humans are not at the center of this story. Two giant salamanders crawl out of the ocean and up into the jungle where they meet.

(Klara Lilja, 2017)

We are in the primordial jungle nest. A large ceramic egg-like structure sprouts eyes and pink ooze. Ceramic Behelits - fetishes of unknown supernatural origin but thought to create an interstice between the physical world and the astral world – are found throughout the installation. The behelits resemble eggs with human features.

On the floor two large ceramic salamanders are circling each other. On the walls series of ceramic masks with multiple eyes are observing the observer. A soundscape, composed by Anders Hjortdal Andersen, provides the installation with a beautiful and eerie atmosphere. The mood of Genesis is one of creation but there is also an uncanny tone in the exhibition. It feels like you have trespassed into a scared place with powers beyond reason. A place of ritual.

Klara Lilja, born 1989, lives and works in Copenhagen and attends The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2014 – 2020). In her work Lilja combines elements of the occult, biology, manga, realism and myth. Her ceramic objects appear to be otherworldly and timeless. Genesis is Klara Lilja’s first solo exhibition in the Depot.