It Began With No Ado

wood, moss, lichens, aluminum

60 x 60 x 210 cm | 2025

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In It Began With No Ado, Marion introduces a striking dialogue between the organic and the industrial, combining wood, moss, lichens, and aluminum for the first time. This piece reflects her ongoing exploration of natural form languages – a process that moves through abstraction, estrangement, and re-composition, drawing the viewer into a contemplation of life’s origins and the passage of time.

The title itself hints at the quiet, unremarkable beginnings of life: a steady, unhurried unfolding, yet charged with the potential of all existence. Here, moss and lichens, ancient life forms known for their slow, unrelenting growth, spread across the wooden core of the sculpture, transforming it into a living landscape. For hundreds of millions of years, these resilient pioneers have quietly colonized our planet, standing as silent witnesses to deep geological time and the cycles of life.

In contrast, the aluminum components introduce a distinctly modern, industrial element. This silvery-white lightweight metal, essential to contemporary technology and manufacturing, carries a personal significance for the artist. The pieces used in this work originate from her molecular biology research, where they once played a role in cell culture experiments. Now cleansed and transformed, they merge with the organic elements, taking on forms that imitate natural growth without directly replicating it.

This choice to blend organic and industrial materials reflects Marion’s awareness of fragility and resilience. The softness of the aluminum forms, though metallic, makes them symbols of life’s vulnerability – they can bend, break, or detach, reacting to the slightest touch. In this, they capture the delicate balance of existence, where even the sturdiest life forms are subject to change and destruction.

Presented at the Old Forge (Alte Schmiede) in Hohenems, Vorarlberg (Austria), a site with deep historical ties to metalwork, the piece also reflects on the passage of time and the transformation of materials. It serves as a reminder that even the oldest, most resilient systems can be disrupted when their environments shift too quickly, or their habitats are disturbed. In this way, the sculpture is both a celebration of nature’s quiet strength and a poignant reflection on its growing vulnerability.