Asya Marakulina

«A Room to rest» project is a series of graphic works, embroideries and objects created over several years. Four rooms compose the exhibition space. Each of them tells about my deepest fears that I discovered and identified. The room and its parts are the key images of the exposition.

I consider a room to be a universal "container", a capsule of personal experiences, a three-dimensional blank sheet that can contain any feeling, as if "capture" it for a while.

Black embroideries in the first room reflect upon the months of discomfort and a fear of change, fear of taking a step into the unknown. The second green room is painted like an entrance to a five-story building and tells about the ghosts from childhood: fear of strangers, threat of violence and nightmares. The third red room seems to have expanded out of the embroideries from the previous rooms. It keeps the fears instilled in the family: fear to waste time, being idle and useless. The last fourth room both indicates the problem and outlines a way out. A series of graphic works «We need to talk» and the installation «Note» - about how scary it is to be sincere, to share your feelings. The answer to the question: "What should I do with this fear?" - lies in the works: to fight and speak, to be open.

There is a bitter irony in the title of the project «A Room to rest». All parts of the installation convey the state of anxiety and internal discomfort. At the same time, there is hope that there exists "a room to rest". You can create it inside by honestly looking into your fears and voicing them, and then, perhaps, you can find it outside as a projection of the inner peace.