Sonia Leimer
Dust buddy, 2023
Bronze, dark patina / Aluminium, sand plasted, different sizes
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna
Sonia Leimer’s (*1977) dust sculptures refer to dust particles found in the city of Pula. In cooperation with the Natural History Museum in Vienna, the collected dust was analyzed under the microscope. Inside were man-made industrial dust grains as well as cosmic stardust. While the artificial particles tell about the industrial history of the city of Pula, the stardust was created during a long journey through space and entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Leimer’s bronze and aluminum sculptures make something visible that is directly related to the city, but is normally invisible. Presented in the Temple of Augustus, these enlarged dust grains now enter into a dialogue with the architecture and connect Pula, with the city’s industrial history and with the sheer endless expanse of space.
Space Dust by Sonia Leimer, 2023