Skrov, 2026
SKROV is a solo exhibition by TERSA BRUTA, the studio practice of New York-based artist Nicole Elkins (b. 1996).
The exhibition takes its name from the Swedish word for the hull of a vessel, the structural shell that carries a body through pressure, impact and exposure. The word also denotes a carcass: what remains once life has moved on. Within this dual meaning, the works unfold between protection and vulnerability, engineered structure and organic residue.
Rather than armor, the shell is approached as a living surface: one that thickens, renews and learns to contain the self. Across the exhibition, surface is treated not as a boundary to defend but as a responsive layer shaped through repetition, touch and time. Aluminum is cut, punched and linked by hand, while organic elements are threaded, bound and suspended, carrying the weight of their origin and use.
Materials historically associated with deterrence or harm are slowed through duration and manual labor, their aggression redirected into connective forms. Chainmail panels of hand-linked soda tabs behave like flexible tissue. Quilted fields of can-bottoms record friction and pressure, turning into surrogate flesh. Deer vertebrae appear not as ornament but as structural truth: what persists once vulnerability has passed and assumed a new form.
Across the exhibition, metal and bone are pushed to their limits yet remain capable of adaptation, mirroring a body’s capacity to endure without hardening.
Nicole Elkins, b. 1996, USA
Elkins is a New York-based artist working under the name TERSA BRUTA. Her practice is informed by a background in fashion, construction, and production. She studied International Trade and Marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and worked across ateliers and production for brands including Oscar de la Renta, Helmut Lang and Ralph Lauren.
Working primarily with metal, bone, leather, wax and industrial remnants, Elkins develops sculptural and installation-based works through repetitive manual processes such as cutting, linking, binding and assembling. Her approach emphasizes material behavior, structural logic and techniques derived from garment construction. Across her practice, she examines how materials can be engineered, adapted, and reconfigured through labor-intensive methods.
Creative Production: New Arrivals
Design: Albert Ryan
Photographer: Amelie Karlsbro
