Earlier this year, “We All Talk to Our Own Gods” opened at Unique Design X 2025. The piece was the shared endeavor of artist Pandora Graessl and curators Marion Guggenheim and Nicolas Dewavrin. Incorporating the works of 8 collaborating artists, the resulting Altar transcended the standard design fair format.
Graessl takes inspiration from ancient ritualistic practices. A nomad, her influences are international, referencing the mystical beings and forest spirits from a broad range of traditions. With a practice built around the creation, meshing and moulding of worlds, she incorporates found objects with created works. Her offerings to gods are to be self-applied.
A Collaborative Sanctuary for Worlds to Converge at Unique Design X 2025
Portrait courtesy of Pandora Graessl, Nicolas Dewavrin, and Marion Guggenheim.
“We All Talk To Our Own Gods” at Unique Design X 2025, Courtesy of the artist and Unique Design X.
Saturated with hues of baby pink, green, blue and the deepest of purples, this is the 5th rendition of Graessls’ Altar. The three-tiered structure offered a space of shared authorship, serving as a collaborative sanctuary for worlds to converge. With artists stemming from varying fields, countries, and cultural sensibilities, their individual energies collided, merged in the spirit of the esoteric piece.
Guarding entry to the shrine stand two sharp bronze sculptures by Graessl. The intertwined prongs represent a cosmic duality, lightness and darkness, and the structure of DNA; referencing the elements explored in The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby.
Uniting Artists Clement Bataille, Sarah Valente, Vica Chavez Garcia and More in Mexico City
“We All Talk To Our Own Gods” at Unique Design X 2025, Courtesy of the artist and Unique Design X.
The altar’s iron frame is peppered with icons created by French artist Clement Bataille, whose works derive from a fusion of French Renaissance paintings, Instagram, and AI. The sacred selection also includes vases and bowls by Sarah Valente which, when illuminated with UV light, reveal an amalgamation of iridescent patterns. Amidst it all, you catch the emerald eye, one of a selection of intricately hand-formed, four-footed bowls by Vica Chavez Garcia.
Snake-entwined mugs by the project Tuberosa slither between the Hot Legs candlestick boots of Berlin-based ceramicist Laura Welker. Earthenware bowls by Fermina sit filled with offerings of beans and hot chilli peppers.
On a tour around the back of the shrine, visitors would be met by the bejewelled face of ‘Prehispanico’. His close ally ‘Papa Payote’ sits on the floor, keeping a watchful eye on all to pass by. Both characters were created by Oaxacan sculptor Isaí Pineda, co-founder of Cara de Planta.
Surrounding the shrine hang the silicon masks of Paris-based artist Romain Sarrot. Inspired by the Mostasu: “talking statues” that serve as an outlet for frustrations and complaints, the works coexist with Christian confessional traditions.
Traditional Offerings for Visitors Placed Amidst the Artworks
“We All Talk To Our Own Gods” at Unique Design X 2025, Courtesy of the artist and Unique Design X.
Those aware of the Mexican practice of ofrenda’s could recognise traditional offerings including places amidst the works. Incense ash, melting candles and falling petals followed the living shrines’ temporal transformation.
In the flickering of candlelight “We All Talk to Our Own Gods” emitted a charge. Transcending the traditional collectable design, the Altar became an imparted object, involving its viewers as active participants.
Whether you took an object home or simply came to smell the incense, be it as a devout believer or a convicted cynic, the Alter will linger in your mind, stirring something buried deep within.
“We All Talk To Our Own Gods” at Unique Design X 2025, Courtesy of the artist and Unique Design X.
