RELIQUES

This exhibition is about that lifebuoy given to every person in childhood—simple discoveries that, in their scale, are comparable to victories, the birth of children, and death.
Relics of a pioneer. The anchors of life. Encrypted laws. Treasures disguised as the ordinary.

I’m not a fetishist or a pagan. Apparently, I have some Chinese ancestry—only they could condense vast concepts into a single character. Or perhaps I’m a painter: in the sweep of a brushstroke, there is life from birth to death.

At the heart of this project lie relics—memory-forming objects that encompass the scale of one human life. Their meaning is subjective and, for now, known only to me.

@RATTLE (child’s toy) — the first slide in my memory.
Beaded, perfectly shaped like the sun, amber and ultramarine with white accents.
Damaged by me. As a child, I was obsessed with discovering what was inside.

@SAP FUNNEL (rusted, used for collecting resin)
Found in the taiga near Raznezhye. These funnels were nailed to pine trees, which were cut with “herringbone” incisions so the resin would drip and congeal into large amber-like flows.
This forest amber seemed inexhaustible—funnels would overflow, and the tree would keep giving its golden sap.

@WOODEN CROSS (made by nature)
A branch broken by the wind, forming an unmistakable cross you can’t just step over. Such crosses lie across forest paths and enter your field of vision when your thoughts grow serious. Then the cross appears like an answer or a reminder—and it becomes a dialogue.

These three objects are enough to divide my memory into three stages and three ages.
Taking them with me on a long journey, I carry my whole story. These relics embody my philosophy of the origin of meaning and my connection to the world around me. They fill any narrative with depth.
Touching these tangible, meaningful objects is like making a vow: this is honest! I am here and now!