The exhibition shades of shape brings together works by Nina Röder and Nina Laaf for the first time. With a keen eye for form and materiality, the two artists explore what lies beneath the surface. In her series of photographs titled ‘darkness in which I swim’, Nina Röder explores life beneath the ocean surface. Although sea creatures such as algae or octopi hold an ecological significance essential to our existence, they are often perceived as spooky. Röder highlights their aesthetic quality by integrating them into interactive performances or by emphasizing their cognitive abilities. Nina Laaf addresses the nature and boundaries of various surfaces. She orchestrates them, exploring their forms and properties, probes them, and sometimes reverses them. These hybridizations create an ambivalence that calls the work process and materiality into question. Through their formal and visual languages, the two positions bring together different dimensions to create a dialogue that examines and compares the relationship between humans, nature, and materials.