Towards Gravity

September 12 - October 25, 2025

Sara Masüger is one of the most prominent representatives of a younger generation of Swiss sculptors. Her work is characterised by an intense exploration of the human body and its physical presence within a given space. Her sculptures and installations probe the boundaries between organic forms and abstract representation. She uses materials such as plaster, polyester resin and metal. Site-specific spatial structures serve as her starting point, and her sculptures and installations offer material- and perception-intensive investigations of the human body in relation to architectural space. Her works challenge viewing habits by blurring the boundaries between inside and outside.

The Exhibition “Towards Gravity” includes the seven-part sculpture installation “Stern­warten M45”, cast in tombac, as well as selections from the „Dicta­tion” and “Untitled” series. The installation “Sternwarten M45” (2024) is inspired by the Pleia­des con­stellation. The individual sculptures are arranged through­out the space, echoing the celestial formation. The sculptures oscil­late be­tween familiar human forms and an abstract, rock-like pres­ence. The Pleiades, an open star cluster in our galaxy, are visible in the spring sky almost everywhere in the world. Heralding the rea­wak­ening of nature, they have served numerous cultures as a means of temporal and spatial orientation in areas such as agricul­ture and seafaring. The Pleiades are also the subject of many myths and leg­ends. In Greek mythology, for instance, they are said to be the daughters of the Titan Atlas. To escape persecution by Orion, Zeus transformed them into doves that rose into the sky and turned into stars. In Japanese mythology, they are known as 'Subaru' and sym­bolise unity and cooperation. Among the Australian Aboriginal people, they are sacred girls who perform at a 'corroboree', a large tribal gathering. The Pleiades are also regarded as ancestors and sources of spiritual wisdom by Native Americans, such as the Cher­okee and Lakota. However, Masüger is particularly fascinated by a Kiowa legend. It tells the story of seven girls who climbed onto a rock and asked it to save them from a bear. The rock then grew to­wards the sky, lifting the girls up with it, and they transformed into stars.

Sara Masüger has always been fascinated by rocks and caves, but what all legends about the Pleiades ultimately have in common is that they are always unusual, matriarchal and transformative narra­tives. They tell the stories of women who became stars, represent­ing wisdom, unity, and togetherness in the heavens. By bringing the female entities attributed to the constellations back to Earth and giving them physical presence again, Masüger creates a new narrative for the protagonists in the present day, inviting us to re­flect on the universal flow of materiality, space and time; the con­stant emergence and passing away; and the connection between humans and nature, heaven and earth.

As with “Sternwarten M45”, Masüger also plays with the viewer's perception in the 100-piece “Dictation” series (2015) and the 78-piece “Untitled” series (2022), repeatedly making the incompre­hensible com­prehensible. While the works in the “Dictation” series are reminis­cent of flower calyxes cast in plaster at one moment, hu­man faces can be glimpsed the next, only to ultimately dissolve back into sculptural abstract forms and elude any tangibility. The play with ephemerality also determines the works in the “Untitled” series. Threads are stretched from the ceiling to the floor, with cop­per-galvanized wax lumps strung along them at irregular intervals. Sim­ilar to a meteor shower, they are scattered throughout the room, forming a delicate veil into which the viewers can im­merse them­selves. On closer inspection, however, the lumps reveal a se­cret: fingerprints are embedded in the amorphous forms, like a hint of human presence. Here, too, Masüger contrasts the indefina­ble mass with identity, creating perceptually intense sculptural symbols of physical memory and transience.

Sara Masüger was born in Baar in 1978 with roots in the Grisons and currently lives and works in Zurich. She studied Fine Arts at the University of Bern from 1997 to 2000, after which she was an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 2001 to 2003. In August 2025, her solo exhibition, “Gedächtnislandschaften”, will open at LOK by Kunstmuseum St. Gallen. Her sculptures and installations have previously been exhibited at the Bündner Kunstmuseum, the Kunsthaus Zug, the Kunsthaus Aarau, and the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, among others. For the Muzeum Susch, Masüger created the site-specific installation “Inn Reverse” (2018), an artificial tunnel filled with sculptural forms that echo natural rock formations found in the Engadin valley carrying the sound of the river bank into the museum, inviting the viewer to reflect on the endless flow of materiality and time.