"Looking at Eszter's works, an atmosphere hovers around me that I could best describe with the term "sense of security". I think of the pleasant feeling when, as a child, I play in my mother's garden with the chickens and other garden animals, while the smell of broth wafting through the window indicates that lunch is slowly being prepared. Something like this carefree and idyllic floating is my most elementary experience in connection with Eszter's work, however, as I later understood the connection between the broth and the hens serving as playmates, it became obvious that the idyllic atmosphere of the pictures is only a hair-thin surface, under which three a time plane stretches.

  Remembering is an act in the present tense, but its subject is the events of the past and the dissolution in them. I think that this ordinary paradox is the spark of the exhibition shown here. However, the past tense can be important from several points of view when examining works. In addition to the preservation of dead plants, leaves, and flowers, we can talk about Eszter's specific motivations, according to which it would be important to nurture the forgotten knowledge that belonged to the traditional folk culture. Examples include a more in-depth knowledge of nature, the use of medicinal herbs, and the ritual itself, which leads us to Eszter's creative methods and the present.

So, creation as a ritual. Experiencing the materials and the environment, as well as the mixing of techniques, is key to the creation of the works. When I first heard Eszter talk about what she does and why she does it, the phrase that stuck with me the most was witch's kitchen. And really! Processes such as eco-print, cyanotype, or lumen print, which are incomprehensible to me, sound as if they were borrowed from a 20 cm thick, leather-bound book with the inscription "curses". At the same time, the experimentation with various materials, the prominent role of coincidences and tinkering make it understandable why Eszter used this term. At the same time, we can talk about women's art, which gives the works a distinctly contemporary flavor. Washing, ironing, drying, cooking, folding. These are all important elements of the above-mentioned procedures, but at the same time, these gestures and the textile itself are classically female attributes.

However, it is also worth saying a few words about the place occupied by the artefacts in the future tense. Perhaps it would be more correct to call it a projection, in any case it is perhaps not necessary for me to analyze why the conservation of the lifeless remains of our nature is an increasingly relevant gesture in art. Just think of the recently debuted animated films "Plastic Sky" or "The Four Souls of the Coyote". I think that Eszter's creative responsibility and clear intention make her an important and significant creator even in contemporary terms. I wish him years of deepening, rich in creativity and many similarly excellent exhibitions! In the meantime, however, let's see what's left."

 

Exhibition opening: Marcell Menyhárt, sculpture

Photos: Martin Helstáb, film director

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