Elena Khurtova

Unwrap
2023

Spatial installation - soils and mold on Montperrin Hospital bed sheets 6 times 160 x 240 cm

Unwrap is a series of textile works which are residues of Khurtova's process of collaborating with soil during her residency at 3bisF Contemporary Art Centre in Aix-en-Provence, FR. During the time in residence, Khurtova researched displacement and soil management terrains as physical archives of excavated soil. Relating to the context of the residency, which is located in a former isolation pavilion for women at the Montperrin psychiatric hospital, she draws parallels between soil management organisations and asylums and investigates overlapping notions of care and control.

Initially Elena wrapped soils in thick cotton Montperrin Hospital bed sheets to support large soil spheres. These fabrics became part of sculptural works, presented during exhibition Displace at 3bisF. Once unwrapped, the textile works carry direct imprints of soil spheres, revealing a symbiotic mixture of textures and colors of soils and molds. The installation consisting of bed sheets spread on the ground also references the historical practice of spreading off-white linen on the ground to bleach in the sun called drying ground.