Peel

Resin cast, mandarin orange peels, thread

56 × 36 × 23 cm
 
2026



In German supermarkets, the artist noticed that most Asian fruits are often placed in the section labeled “Exotic Fruits” (Exotische Früchte). Mandarin oranges, however, are not included in this category and are instead treated as an ordinary fruit. This small but clear difference led the artist to reflect on how certain objects become integrated into mainstream systems of consumption, and where the boundary between the exotic and the ordinary is drawn.

Once something is recognized as ordinary, the long and complex process of acceptance often disappears from the view. The shoe is understood here as a kind of social skin — an everyday object that mediates between the body and the exterior world. As something we must wear in order to move through public space, it becomes a quiet symbol of belonging and integration. For this work, the artist hand-sewed mandarin orange peels into a pair of “skin” shoes and preserved them through resin casting, capturing the fragile process of becoming ordinary.


Exhibition: Städelschule Rundgang, Frankfurt, Germany