Entering the first floor of Frith Gallery in London, viewers are greeted by an enormous bronze mermaid called Nixe. She’s leaning back and gazing upward—a creature of this world and beyond it. Nixe was made by the German sculptor Thomas Schütte, but not all his sculptures are as welcoming as she is. His ceramic busts are variously nervous, melancholy, or maybe just unsure. His glass sculptures includes ghosts, urns, and masks. The process of sculpting leads to errors and Schütte plays off the mistakes, allowing technical flubs to serve as inspiration. “You cannot make art, you only can make art happen,” Schütte says. “This is the only thing you can do, prepare yourself and things will happen. Art happens.” —Clara Molot