Shell shapes have a long tradition in art. They are signs of pilgrimage, an image of femininity, and symbolize the cycles of birth, life and death. While I was building the Meerohr, I was pregnant with my son. Thus the symbolism of shells – femininity and birth – coincided with the particular circumstances out of which the Meerohr came to be.

For me, the shell – situated here in the forest, far away from the sea, on dry land – is an image of longing. It is a longing for the water where it originated, and which gathers now in its opening.

The basin fills slowly over the course of half a day, mirroring the natural rhythm of ebb and flow, an inner pulsation. The water in the fountain’s basin could represent longing and, at the same time, fulfillment.