“All is fair in love and war”, or so we are told, but that old chestnut leaves the door open for some pretty heinous shit to go down. Does the end always justify the means in these two theatres of engagement? Harma Heikens is posing the question with her collection of sculptures, broadly concerned with the topics of love and war and explored through imagery that is an uncomfortable juxtaposition of the childlike and the exceptionally adult.
Heikens has turned her attentions on issues affecting the young before, with pieces based around child soldiers and sex trafficking, and the Dutch artist isn’t shying away from taboo discussions with this series either. With economic and political crises rife in the world, Heikens finds plenty to get her going, but it’s perhaps her continuing interest in the tension between innocence and sexuality that grabs the audience. All Is Fair in Love and War is a provocative series, particularly when it goes down that road; Toys in the Attic, with its leering clown and sexualised young girl, is a prime example of the disturbing way in which the artist subverts relationships and pushes boundaries. KochxBos Gallery in Amsterdam is the exhibition venue, with a closing date of 25 October.
All is Fair in Love and War, 2013
65 x 35 x 35cm / 23 x 14 x 14 inch, synthetic wood
Toys in the Attic, 2014
95 x 66 x 60 cm / 37,5 x 30 x 33,5 inch, synthetic wood
Trick or Treat, 2014
153 x 60 x 45 cm, synthetic wood
A Good Year , 2014
105 x 90 x 30cm / 41,5 x 35,5 x 12 inch, synthetic wood
