---

Sissel Tolaas

---

Sissel Tolaas

(Born 1959, works in Berlin)

Terra Maximus, 1989

Glass, iron, leaves, concrete

680 x 200 x 50 cm

When Terra Maximus was new, the cases were filled to the brim with dried leaves, and the portal gave a compact, dark impression. Today, it is transparent and light, the decomposing leaves have shrunk. Many of Sissel Tolaas’ sculptural works, including Terra Maximus, are based on transformation processes. She demonstrates how
nature works, and how fermentation and decomposition are key elements in these cyclical processes. In other works she incorporates natural elements such as wind, fire, and water. Today, Tolaas focuses mainly on smell. Since the 1990s, she has developed an extensive archive of smells from all over the world. She describes our olfactory sense as an unexplored source of knowledge, and smell as an invisible architecture surrounding us.