FORTUNE COOKIES: José Sottomayor, Maria Landgren Hilmersson, Clara Rojas, Yuqi Wang and Nasma Al-Shutfa & Nika Dundua.

About this activity.

FORTUNE COOKIES
from March 8 to April 5

Opening: Saturday March 8 at 5:00 PM

With works by José Sottomayor, Maria Landgren Hilmersson, Clara Rojas, Yuqi Wang and Nasma Al-Shutfa & Nika Dundua.

‘Fortune Cookies’ reflects on living space and the things in it. What do these actually represent? What way of life is behind this? ‘Fortune Cookies’ shows five different expressions that refer to the existential aspects of life; they search for and speak of comfort, longing for hope, destiny, memories, a sense of home…’

ARTISTS

Jose Sottomayor: At the playful and unexpected intersection of food, art and subversive aesthetics, José Sottomayor creates sculptural works that are smooth, colorful, translucent and gelatinous. These creations challenge the fleeting appeal of consumer goods, transforming familiar materials such as glass, ceramics, plastic, rubber, wax and candy into captivating pieces that blur the boundaries between source, function and effect. Viewers are invited to experience moments of awe, curiosity and joy.

Candy Boxes
José: “When I think of objects in space and their meaning and relationship with people, I think of the candy tins from my childhood. My grandmothers had ‘hidden sweets’ in specific places in the house. As children, we could only obtain these treats with permission, often as a reward after a meal or for good behavior. These drums took different shapes. For example, my great-grandmother’s was a large handbag with giant gummies wrapped in wrapping paper. This bag was never in a fixed place in the room. On a high shelf, out of reach, these candy jars were objects of mystery and desire. They were magical, hidden treasures that protected their contents from the grasping fingers of children. But adults also found these fascinating objects. There was a special aura around it. A handbag filled with sweets became a tool to promote interaction between adults and children. It symbolized a shared love of sweetness and the power dynamics of permission and reward.”
These memories and stories inspired José for his new works in SIGN. Each candy box will evoke a different kind of interaction, inspired by the different ways José experienced these objects in his childhood.
Grandma’s Purse – This container releases edible candies from inside, allowing viewers to taste and eat the treats. Sharing sweets is an accessible and communal aspect.
Gummy Box – This item contains an edible gel with a confusing consistency, making it unclear whether it can be touched or eaten. This creates an experience of hesitation and uncertainty, like the tension of asking for permission from childhood.
Big Candy Jar – This jar is placed in an inaccessible location and contains inedible candies. Viewers can only imagine the taste, which evokes frustration and the desire to access the content and taste what’s inside.
José Sottomayor graduated in 2024 from the Dirty Art Department, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam.

Clara Rojas comes from southern Spain. Her recent works deal with fragmented memories and trauma. In installations, objects, videos and clothing, Clara remembers stories from her childhood and translates them into something new, a way to communicate with the future of our world and the new generations. Nothing is definitively written. Physical spaces that go culturally unnoticed because of the daily life that takes place in them form the basis of her work. There are no boundaries between abstraction and figuration, between the portrait of childhood or the still life. It is an exercise in introspection, from its most primal part: the ancestral and collective past.

Magic 8 ball
Clara’s new work in SIGN is inspired by the concept of the magical 8 ball, an object full of mystery and symbolism that reflects the decisions, reactions and dilemmas we face in our daily lives. This 8-ball installation represents our inner self, our relationship with chance, uncertainty and the desire to obtain answers through an everyday and at the same time magical object.
At the center is a gigantic magical 8-ball made of textile, which can also be touched. The extreme proportions provide a feeling of immersion in a space that plays with scale and proportions. This opens a dialogue with the viewer about how objects, no matter how common they are, become vehicles of reflection on our existence and how their presence can change the perception of our environment. A 3D video shows
through visual effects and animations different reactions that the 8 ball could give like an oracle, creating a cycle that invites the viewer to a subjective interpretation.
Clara Rojas graduated in 2024 from the Large Glass Department, Gerrit Rietveld, Amsterdam.

Yuqi Wang: Yuqi Wang’s works answer or pose new questions about belonging. This in the light of migration and hybridization, where images and materials are used related to identity, memory and a broader cultural context. The interplay between image and material is central to his way of working. Yuqi intervenes in the visual language, deliberately blurring the distinction between what it looks like (what is visible) and materiality. In the meantime, imagery determines the way he deals with material, in which he constantly searches for an intrinsic connection between the physical form of material and its potential as a symbolic carrier. Imagery and material compete with each other and simultaneously open up to each other in his artistic process, resulting in projects with hybrid forms between painting, photography, installation and performance.

Bagua mirror
Yuqi’s new work takes the form of the Chinese Bagua mirror as its basic structure and transforms it
these into a sculpture made from a combination of materials collected from the Netherlands (earth and
bauble) and China (hair and mirror). The Bagua mirror is an octagonal mirror commonly found in Chinese households, where it serves as a protective talisman believed to deflect negative energy. Originating from the Yi Jing (The Book of Changes), an ancient Chinese divination manual, ‘Bagua’ refers to the pattern around the central mirror. This pattern consists of symbols that illustrate the nature of reality as a balance of opposing forces (Yin and Yang) that reinforce each other. Its metaphysical and predictive qualities represent an alternative view of life that contrasts with the view shaped by science and capitalism. The central structure is surrounded by a Bagua pattern made from earth, which is surrounded by a collage of images that address pressing issues in the Netherlands, such as the rise of the far right, increasingly strict immigration policies, housing shortages and cuts to the cultural sector. These issues have a significant impact on the survival of non-European artists living in the Netherlands, creating great uncertainty about their future.The sculpture, which resembles the Bagua Mirror, serves as a large protective shell that envelops this disturbing reality. Hair is included as supplementary material, referencing a Chinese ‘snake’ expression that humorously links hair loss to the unbearable stress of everyday life.
Yuqi Wang graduated from the Master’s degree in Painting at the Frank Mohr Institute, Groningen in 2023.

Maria Landgren Hilmersson: In the inaudible sounds and the random, overlooked melodies that surround us, Maria Landgren Hilmersson finds the basis of her artistic practice. Freezers as organs, clicking toys, whistling trains, buzzing bicycles, conversations of passers-by, rain, thunderstorms, talking parrots, creaking wood, ticking clocks and scratched CDs are examples of sounds she has used in her works. Within the infinite soundscape that envelops us, we constantly generate moving sounds. Every sound, every tone and every noise carries with it its environment and reflects its environment, history and culture.Maria’s works serve as tools to explore the relationship between memory, transformation and translation. Her practice moves within sound-based art and performance, video, text and sculptural installation. Each piece becomes a reflection of aural exploration, a collection of fragments of memories and retold stories. She is fascinated by the borderland between composition and improvisation, between recorded and live events – an element that often permeates her works. Human voices, mechanical and non-human sounds, and the intersection of technology and acoustics are recurring themes. Maria tries to stimulate the viewer’s expectations of what an object might sound like, as if each object has its own voice and speaks to us in its unique way.

Dörröga (doors)
Maria: “In SIGN I create a site-responsive installation that combines sound, text and shadow play projections to explore the concept of doors – both physical structures and symbolic thresholds. Doors are a separation of something, they define what is inside and outside. They protect and expose, invite and exclude, serving as both guardians and barriers. Details such as keyholes, key plates and hinges provide an almost forensic look at the mechanics of doors. I started writing door poems – short stories that reflect on different aspects of doors. These poems deal with themes such as a burglar who turns out to be the neighbor’s cat, the creaking of old doors, locking and unlocking, the fear of opening doors for strangers, my apartment in Stockholm and doors in horror films. These texts will serve as the conceptual and sonic basis for my installation.
This work plays with the tension between internal and external
outdoor spaces: the desire to connect, the
fear of isolation and the comfort of withdrawal.
It invites the audience to reflect on the presence and absence, the sense of gap between inside and outside and when we choose to enter the unknown or the place to rest your thoughts.”
Maria Landgren Hilmersson graduated in 2024 from the Master’s degree in Fine Art, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam.

Nasma Al-Shutfa & Nika Dundua come from Yemen and Russia respectively and have a migration background. Nasma Al-Shutfa’s practice is an exploration of the intersection between physical space and emotional experience, an attempt to make tangible the often invisible struggle of those seeking safety and longing for new beginnings. Nika Dundua has a scenographic approach and speaks of ‘the space as an active participant’.

'How to design a border'
Nasma and Nika: “Within our project we want to explore the concept of borders as both a political and a physical phenomenon: lines that divide space into two separate zones and sometimes cause movement between them. Boundaries are not just physical markers; they are socially and politically constructed systems of inclusion and exclusion. They regulate mobility, define national identities and reinforce power structures that privilege some and marginalize others. Who is allowed to move and who is restricted is determined by nationality, race and economic status, making mobility a privilege rather than a right. As spatial practitioners, we are particularly interested in the materiality of boundaries – artificial lines imposed on landscapes to enhance the illusion of separation. These divisions, while often arbitrary, become deeply entrenched in geopolitical narratives, which are used as currency by systems of power to control land, resources and people.By examining the material presence of borders and the narratives built around them, this project examines how a border is designed – both as a physical construction and as a system of inclusion and exclusion. By engaging with the physical space, we want to translate the experience of a border into a place where it does not belong: the project space of SIGN.
What does it mean to design a border? Is it a physical act – building a wall, drawing a border – or is it about shaping the conditions that determine who is allowed in and who is kept out? To what extent is this process inherently hostile? With this installation we want to explore the circumstances in which boundaries arise, and the human experience of crossing them. We are particularly interested in spaces where movement is highly regulated – where crossing is possible, yet remains a privilege for some, while restricted for others. Our approach combines documentary storytelling with spatial experimentation, scenography and a multi-channel video installation, creating an immersive environment that invites audiences to engage with and think about the complexity of borders, not as abstract concepts, but as lived realities.”
Nasma Al-Shutfa and Nika Dundua graduated in 2024 from the master Interior Architecture, KABK, The Hague.

SIGN.

SIGN is een levendige en experimentele projectruimte voor actuele interdisciplinaire kunst op nationaal niveau. Zij biedt jonge kunstenaars een podium voor verdere profilering, ontwikkeling en intensivering van hun kunstenaarschap. Daarbij wordt nieuw werk geïnitieerd in bijzondere contexten en wordt de nodige reflectie gegeven. Presentaties zijn er in SIGN, op allerlei locaties, en in openbare ruimte met een variatie aan omstandigheden, invalshoeken, disciplines.

SIGN wordt ondersteund door Mondriaan Fonds Kunstpodium Basis 2021-2022 en ook voor de periode 2023-2024 

Location.

SIGN
Winschoterkade 10
9711 EA Groningen
tel 050-3132651
www.sign2.nl