In her series “Household Surrealism”, Helga Stentzel transforms ordinary domestic items into characters and scenarios, redefining how we perceive the relationship between art, objects and daily routines.
Stentzel’s work, based in London and exhibited internationally, challenges the boundaries between sculpture, photography and stop-motion animation. Her visual language is deeply rooted in humor and lightness, yet conceptually tied to key contemporary concerns: how we assign value to objects, how domesticity is visually constructed, and how the familiar can become strange through framing and scale.
From clothing to sculpture: a shift in perception
Whether it’s a cow made of laundry on a clothesline or a slice of toast that becomes a face, each of Stentzel’s pieces proposes a moment of transformation. Her art does not rely on heavy editing or digital manipulation — rather, it celebrates the analogue moment in which a banal material turns unexpectedly expressive.
This sensibility aligns with post-internet aesthetics while preserving a tactile, craft-based approach. In a time when much contemporary art is embedded in screens, Stentzel insists on the joy and impact of physical presence, domestic textures and the slow gaze.
His poetic engagement with material and form places Stentzel’s practice in dialogue with other contemporary artists who manipulate texture and volume to challenge classical aesthetics. A notable example is the work of Étienne Gros, who reinterprets the Venus de Milo using industrial foam, creating new narratives around softness, sensuality and corporeality — as explored in this article.Everyday objects and visual storytelling
By anthropomorphizing food, fabric and utensils, Stentzel constructs scenes that speak to a shared cultural imagination. Her objects are not props — they are protagonists. This approach connects with trends such as object-oriented ontology and the renewed interest in material agency within the arts.
The narrative dimension of her work is subtle but intentional. Without words, her images evoke stories that resonate across cultures, often through humor, empathy or absurdity. It’s a form of visual storytelling that privileges accessibility without sacrificing depth.
Her work invites viewers to reconsider the aesthetic potential of domestic environments — a line of inquiry that echoes other contemporary practices focused on reimagining the everyday. This reflection on ordinary objects and their recontextualization within critical art discourses is also explored in the redefinition of contemporary furniture by Moreno Schweikle.
Critical play in contemporary practice
Stentzel’s ability to balance playfulness with conceptual clarity makes her a unique figure within the broader discourse of contemporary art. Her practice poses questions about visibility, domesticity, and the overlooked aesthetics of everyday life — themes increasingly present in global exhibitions and curatorial debates.
Seen in contexts such as the Royal Academy of Arts in London or the CCOC Museum in Seoul, her work is not merely decorative: it becomes a site for thinking through how art can emerge from repetition, routine and humor.
Household Surrealism does not ask us to escape domestic space — it invites us to see it anew.
