“Growing up in post-war Germany, I was required to read Goethe’s novel, Elective Affinities (Die Wahlverwandtschaften) – and it made a lasting impression. In this 1809 novel, Goethe takes his inspiration from (what was then cutting-edge) chemical theory, and, in particular, the tendency of compounds to interact with each other in certain circumstances. The novel applies this notion of chemical affinity to social interaction, and is read by some as suggesting that our lives are governed by something akin to scientific laws. Ironically, some readers take the opposite perspective, and read the novel as a broad assertion of free will.

My series, (S)elective Affinities, was inspired by this novel. Just as Goethe’s literary protagonists experiment with each other and their surroundings, I also experiment with ‘affinities,’ transferring subjects from one context into another.