Akelei-Aquila-Adler, Mixed Media Installation, 2025

Akelei–Aquila–Adler is the first part of a larger cycle of works in which I investigate the intersections of esotericism, spirituality, and fascist conspiracy ideologies – with a particular focus on how the internet fosters these connections. My personal fascination with spirituality is accompanied by a simultaneous critical distance. From this tension arises my interest in how spirituality can, on the one hand, open up feminist spaces, while at the same time stabilizing and perpetuating conservative and nationalist narratives.

A hybrid herbarium presents the medicinal and ornamental plant columbine (Aquilegia), which on the one hand contains classic herbarium information such as location or naming, and on the other hand evokes mythological and symbolic meanings. Columbine was, for example, referred to as the Flower of the Trinity or the robe of Saint Mary. At the same time, its blossoms were thought to resemble eagle claws – which led to the etymological derivation of Aquilegia from the Latin Aquila (eagle).

Inspired by digital trends such as #tradwife, #cottagecore, #witchtok, and #divinefeminineenergy, hair, pearl necklaces, and a digital collage printed on satin evoke images of Western femininity that romanticize online “back-to-nature” narratives. This femininity is co-opted by right-wing soft power strategies: purity, softness, care – ideals traditionally ascribed to women within right-wing ideology.

The video shows a columbine flower that continuously transforms into an eagle. The eagle is at once a central symbol of various spiritual traditions, but also a heraldic emblem of power and domination.

Thus, the installation weaves together nature, digitality, and symbolism into a network that reveals how seemingly harmless online trends are permeated by, or co-opted into, ideological currents. At the same time, it highlights the mutability of symbols – how their meanings can shift and become politically charged.