Worlds within Worlds is the culmination of years of experimentation, reverse engineering and close observation of the plasticity of food polymers and their apparent but hidden universes. Thompson’s interest in deconstructing food through its material and pictorial representation comes as a critique and an expansion of the still-life genre. She does so by paying attention to the lively material processes that occur in food, such as fermentation, crystallisation, plasticity and other microforms and processes that challenge the literal representation of the food we are familiar with. The exhibition invites us on a journey into the inner spaces of things – and, consequently, ourselves – where, within what we know, a new world unexpectedly unfolds, prompting the question of what we are allowed to see and what we are able to imagine.

The exhibition builds on the connections established during the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts in 2023, which sought, in its own way, to re-examine and revive the hopes and visions of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Curator of the exhibition: Patrick Nii Okanta Ankrah