The exhibition by Osnabrück-based artist Merle Lembeck opened at CUBIC in early May. “Held in softness” is the title of her spatial installation, which spans the entire space of the art cube with objects of varying sizes. It will be on view through June 21, 2026.

Lembeck’s nylon creations resemble bodies or bodily shells. Like an arachnid, a dark creature appears to float in a web stretched with thin threads. But it could just as easily be the egg cell of a sea creature, floating oversized in an aquarium. The semi-transparent surface of the unknown artifact allows viewers to see through it while simultaneously revealing the void within. The flatter objects, in turn, are reminiscent of skins left behind after a process of renewal has been completed, which the artist has prepared and arranged. Through this narrative element, the installation alludes to processes and states that something must have taken place and that implies a before and an after.

Merle Lembeck is a freelance artist from Osnabrück whose artistic practice lies within the intersection of painting, spatial composition, and object art.

Her works navigate the space between surface and form, between two-dimensionality and spatial presence, exploring the interplay between material, space, and perception.

At the heart of her work lies an intense engagement with space and the body—space generates the body, and the body expands within it. Her works invite viewers to experience space not only visually, but also atmospherically and physically.

The art-cube e.V. art association seeks to foster exchange with its sister city Osnabrück and invites an artist to Greifswald once a year to present their artistic practice.

Exhibition dates: May 2 – June 21, 2026

Photos: Jule Piehl