Folding Nations, 254 porcelain planes, 2025, various dimensions

 

In the total installation Folding Nations, something as universal and seemingly innocent as the paper airplane is transformed into a charged symbol of national identity, geopolitics, and a fragile world order.

 

The work consists of 254 hand-folded airplanes in A4 format – one for every state and dependent territory registered in ISO 3166-1. Crafted in paper-thin porcelain and painted with their respective national flags, the airplanes represent the idea of a world with clear borders and stable territories. Yet in the installation, this order dissolves. The airplanes lie in piles on the floor, in window niches, and along staircases – as if crashed. They form a fragmented landscape where structure has been replaced by chaos and weight, a silent monument to the unrest and transformation of nations.