We are never entirely one thing. We are shaped by the people we encounter, the experiences we carry, and the countless versions of ourselves that emerge along the way. With We Were Never One Thing, SEPT brings together three distinct artistic voices — Dario Ballantini, M. Maria Tatar, and Ulla Hase — to explore the complexity of human identity and the invisible connections that bind us together.
At the heart of the exhibition lies the human figure. Through their expressive figurative paintings, Ballantini and Tatar present bodies that coexist, overlap, and transform. Their figures are never truly isolated. They inhabit shared spaces, suggesting relationships, tensions, and the constant negotiation between individuality and belonging.
While Ballantini approaches the human form through bold colours, fragmented compositions, and emotional intensity, Tatar explores the body as something continuously evolving, breaking apart and rebuilding itself. Together, their works suggest that identity is neither fixed nor singular, but something shaped through our encounters with others.
In contrast, Ulla Hase introduces a language of abstraction. Through the patient repetition of thousands of lines, her drawings create intricate compositions where individual gestures gradually become part of a larger whole. Although the human figure disappears, its presence remains through the movement of the hand, the rhythm of the body, and the accumulation of time.
This dialogue between figuration and abstraction reveals a shared idea: nothing exists entirely on its own. Just as a line becomes part of a composition, our identities take shape through relationships, experiences, and repetition.
We Were Never One Thing invites us to look beyond the individual, reminding us that being human is not about becoming one complete, unchanging self, but about embracing the many forms we take, together.
