“Ridikulus”

2025

Resin, Metal, PVC, Arduino

As a child, I used to have nightmares. But those dreams were often fueled by the scary stories my aunt would tell me-stories like, "If you don't go to sleep, a giant will come take you away," or "If you don't behave, a monster will eat you." Eventually, I began dreaming of those monsters: strange, mutated insect-like creatures with enormous tails and grotesque forms. Back then, I didn't question whether they were real or imagined. I simply buried the things I truly feared deep inside myself.

Years later, I found resonance in a scene from Harry Potter-Protessor Lupin's lesson about Boggarts, creatures that transform into your worst fears, and how the spell Ridikulus could turn them into something absurd and harmless. That moment stayed with me. I thought: what if we could look at our fears through a different lens, with softness or even humor? Maybe they would lose their power. Maybe they could even become a kind of joy.

That was the starting point for this piece. When the tail of this strange insect-like form began to move in my hands, I suddenly thought of the way my childhood pets-my cats and dogs-used to wag their tails. Though these are tender memories, they also carry loss: those beloved animals are no longer with me. By transforming these shapes, I wanted to turn fear and grief into a form of remembrance-a gentle monument to what once was, and a hopeful gesture toward what still could be beautiful.

The outer shell of the sculpture is made from soft TPU, reminiscent of skin or fur, but its core is supported by iron.

This contrast between softness and strength mirrors my own emotional structure: I may seem gentle on the outside, but there is a kind of quiet resilience within. Through this work, I embrace the monsters of my past, not with resistance, but with tenderness.

You're welcome to come hug my bug—or feel it. These creatures are no longer monsters. They are residues of fear, shaped by time, and transformed by care.