brigitta váradi

The point between creation and distraction: where I exist. The work explores how memories can inform our present day perspectives and artistic expression. One specific memory from childhood is of a poem by Janos Arany (1853). It describes a woman who is washing a white sheet in the river day and night till only a raggedy cloth is left and yet she still carries on. When people passing by ask her what she is doing, she replies by explaining that she is washing the blood out of the sheet, although there is no visible stain on the cloth. This poem created such a strong visual image that it became the impetus for my work, From Red to White. This story reflects the essence of this work an erosion of memories through repetitive action till all that remains is the action itself. Our memories provide an understanding of our past and its deeds directing our present thoughts and actions. Just as the individual fibres of this tapestry are strongly bound together through the actions of agitation and friction, our memories connect together and back up our every single deed. Our deeds mark our existence, they can release/elevate us, or envelope us in the past where we stay/remain entangled. Stories like these allow us to recognize the need to disentangle and to resurrect forgotten memories in order to deal with them in a conscious manner.