Diederik Gerlach has incorporated autobiographical elements in the Acht Schwestern series. He draws on his memories and incorporates them in a setting in which he uses visual elements from travel brochures, postcards and advertisements from the 1950's. Diederik Gerlach often places an ornamental or emblem-like shape in the center of the image. Such a Fremdkörper sets the image in motion: the apparently familiar performances are sharpened and given a broader meaning.