Cathrine Raben Davidsen
Bronze Reliefs and Bronze Vessels (2024–2026)
Carlsberg Foundation

The title “Prima Materia” holds both a philosophical and scientific depth that resonates directly with the spirit and history of the foundation. Prima Materia—the first substance—is a concept from alchemy, referring to the raw, unformed origin from which everything emerges. It serves as a metaphor for both artistic and scientific creation: beginning in the undefined and unknown, and gradually bringing forth form, structure, and understanding.

The works consist of two bronze reliefs, each measuring 320 × 160 cm, as well as three large-scale bronze vessels featuring motifs inspired by cells, growths, yeast, and microorganisms. Raben Davidsen has worked with organic forms and structures that reference microscopic life—the life not immediately visible, yet fundamental to everything else. It is within this realm that the Carlsberg Laboratory has played a decisive role, including the isolation of the first pure yeast strain in 1883—a breakthrough that transformed both brewing and the understanding of microbiology.

For this reason, the works naturally emerge from a visual language that points to growth, transformation, and beginnings. At the same time, Prima Materia carries an existential dimension: the idea that humans, organisms, and societies are constantly in process, in motion, and in transformation. This notion connects alchemy, art, and science—an intersection central to Raben Davidsen’s practice.

By working in bronze—a material with profound historical weight—Raben Davidsen creates a connection between past knowledge and contemporary research. The works can be seen as a tribute to unformed potential: to all that is not yet known, and to the curiosity that underpins both science and art.

As part of the work’s narrative, three plant forms emerge from the bronze vessels—modeled in paper by Louise Moestrup: copper beech (Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea), poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), and goat willow (Salix caprea). Their presence is not only aesthetic, but also symbolic.

The copper beech, with its deep purplish-red leaves, appears as a dark, dignified figure—a reflection of life’s cycles and an image of the individual’s existential search. Poison hemlock carries a toxic history and is associated with the death of Socrates; it becomes a symbol of the cost of knowledge, as well as of inner freedom. Goat willow represents emerging life and resilience. Through its association with healing and folk medicine—via the salicin found in its bark—it becomes an image of regeneration and hope.

Together, these three plants open a space for reflection on the many layers of existence—darkness and light, death and healing, knowledge and transformation—and thus form a living extension of Prima Materia’s core: the nascent, the unformed, and the deeply human.