During a residency at SiM in Iceland, Ster Borgman worked alongside Icelandic glassblower Anders Vange, immersing themself in a landscape that is in constant flux. In Iceland, the ground shifts, lava cools into new land, steam rises and water erupts with volcanic force. What is often perceived as inanimate (stone, minerals, glass) reveals itself as active, alive and continuously transforming.

 

In Biotopes of the Inorganic, Ster captures this dynamic interplay. The glass vessels may appear still at first glance, yet they are in ongoing motion. On a molecular level, the glass slowly shifts; salt crystallizes; steam condenses. Each biotope evolves over time, embodying a landscape that is both resting and becoming.​

 

Within ROOTS – Sleeping Beauty, a Symbiotic Symphony, their work reflects a quiet awakening. Like a sleeping landscape, the inorganic world holds a hidden vitality—subtle, patient, yet undeniable. The installation becomes part of a symbiotic symphony, where materials are not passive but participate, respond and co-create.​

 

Ster Borgman invites the viewer to return, to look again, and to witness change. In doing so, they challenge the idea of what it means to be “alive,” revealing that even the most seemingly inert materials carry their own rhythm, their own time, and their own form of life.

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