20kg of me
2025, solo exhibition and 4-channel video
Does belonging begin in the body?
Can pain preserve what memory has lost?
How long can a form endure?
"20kg of me" is a multimedia exhibition by Ksti Hu that explores identity, belonging, and the search for a place of arrival. The installation consists of a four-channel video piece (loop, 15 min), three wooden objects partially covered with moss-silicone skin, and an audiovisual VR walk. The exhibition opens with a live performance in which Ksti Hu creates the moss-silicone skin directly in front of the audience.
Moss and ice are the central materials in this work—they symbolize Komi identity, which has remained untouched by colonial history. Ksti Hu addresses the tension between preserving indigenous traditions and attempting to situate them within a new cultural context.
The four-channel-Videoarbeit "20kg of Me": At the center of the exhibition is the four-channel video piece "20kg of Me," in which Ksti Hu brings 20 kg of komi white moss from the Arctic forest into a German one. The white moss symbolizes Ksti Hu’s Komi identity. Komi are an indigenous people living in the extreme northeast of Europe, inhabiting a sparsely populated region of taiga and tundra. Komi is also the name of their ancient and complex language, as well as well as the geographic region that was incorporated into Russia. A particularly unique aspect of the Komi region is its primeval forests, which represent the largest continuous area of untouched forest in Europe.
Ksti Hu lays herself onto the moss, attempting to arrive on German soil. It remains uncertain how long this will take. In two other parallel videos, Ksti Hu wears a face made of ice cast from her own face, and an ice torso also cast from her own body. These ice forms symbolize memories of herself or her own imagined self-image. During the performance, the ice melts against her skin, causing redness and painful frostbite. Through this act, Ksti Hu liberates her Komi identity—a girl who was tormented. Pain defines her existence, representing her natural state. Only through pain does she understand that she exists.
Joachimstal, 2024.
Art direction & concept Ksti Hu
Camera Iryna Drahun
Styling Ekaterina Samorukova
Video colorgrading Roma Shaglanov
Music Vera Pogurskaja
Grafikdesign Kevin Moll
3d world complementation Wenyi Zhang
20kg of me
2025, solo exhibition and 4-channel video
Does belonging begin in the body?
Can pain preserve what memory has lost?
How long can a form endure?
"20kg of me" is a multimedia exhibition by Ksti Hu that explores identity, belonging, and the search for a place of arrival. The installation consists of a four-channel video piece (loop, 15 min), three wooden objects partially covered with moss-silicone skin, and an audiovisual VR walk. The exhibition opens with a live performance in which Ksti Hu creates the moss-silicone skin directly in front of the audience.
Moss and ice are the central materials in this work—they symbolize Komi identity, which has remained untouched by colonial history. Ksti Hu addresses the tension between preserving indigenous traditions and attempting to situate them within a new cultural context.
The four-channel-Videoarbeit "20kg of Me": At the center of the exhibition is the four-channel video piece "20kg of Me," in which Ksti Hu brings 20 kg of komi white moss from the Arctic forest into a German one. The white moss symbolizes Ksti Hu’s Komi identity. Komi are an indigenous people living in the extreme northeast of Europe, inhabiting a sparsely populated region of taiga and tundra. Komi is also the name of their ancient and complex language, as well as well as the geographic region that was incorporated into Russia. A particularly unique aspect of the Komi region is its primeval forests, which represent the largest continuous area of untouched forest in Europe.
Ksti Hu lays herself onto the moss, attempting to arrive on German soil. It remains uncertain how long this will take. In two other parallel videos, Ksti Hu wears a face made of ice cast from her own face, and an ice torso also cast from her own body. These ice forms symbolize memories of herself or her own imagined self-image. During the performance, the ice melts against her skin, causing redness and painful frostbite. Through this act, Ksti Hu liberates her Komi identity—a girl who was tormented. Pain defines her existence, representing her natural state. Only through pain does she understand that she exists.
Joachimstal, 2024.
Art direction & concept Ksti Hu
Camera Iryna Drahun
Styling Ekaterina Samorukova
Video colorgrading Roma Shaglanov
Music Vera Pogurskaja
Grafikdesign Kevin Moll
3d world complementation Wenyi Zhang
Copyright © Ksti Hu 2025
Projects
Copyright © Ksti Hu 2025