“I’m certain that there’s probably all sorts of stuff pushing me in all kinds of directions subconsciously. That is part of the fun. I feel like my process is just to let everything completely go and let the characters start from scratch every time. Because also I feel like that’s like life. You’ve got to become. Every day is a new beginning and you can become any character you want to.”*

The one-word title of Grant Falardeau’s debut solo exhibition in Germany – Ma – is at once potent and nonprescriptive. The Japanese concept of ‘Ma’ (間) refers to meaningful pauses, gaps, or in-between spaces, whilst in the Hindu tradition, the word is a reverential title for Kali – a goddess who can bring fertility but also wreak havoc. As Falardeau lives and works in Los Angeles, the title may equally function as an acknowledgment of his own mother, or of mothers more generally. Certainly, some kind of direct encounter with creation is evoked.

Distributed throughout the gallery, a suite of fired clay…