"References to 80's film and popular culture inform a lot of my work. This is a period that I associate with a certain form of denial and carelessness, but also with extreme imagery. Imagery that is colourful, excessive and gory, but and also sentimental and cliché-ridden. The inevitability of sentimentalism is often a key theme in my installations and videos."

In a tiny chamber in the crypt, Heike's untitled sculpture (2003) reveals itself to the adjusting eyes of the spectator. A nocturnal scene consisting of a man in a wheelchair and four dogs on a grassy verge gradually comes into focus. The size of the chamber restricts viewing to a single spectator. The miniature scale of the piece itself demands viewer investment. Thus an intimacy is set up.

In common with other work in 'Fantastic!', this piece sets up undisclosed narratives. Heike says "hopefully the work pushes the viewer to take responsibility for, and question what he or she is looking at." The filmic lighting, reminiscent of Film Noir, establishes a dark, poetic atmosphere for the spectator's imaginings to develop in. Heike describes this piece as "like a film still or a photograph which describes an event forever waiting to unfold."

Heike Cavallo has exhibited in the UK as well as Europe, America and New-Zealand. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2002. This year she curated 'Urban and Suburban Stories' at VTO.