This is my first solo exhibition in Miskolc. When selecting the works, I aimed to create a journey that begins with my earliest pieces, passes through various periods and themes, and leads to my most recent works, which were created specifically for this exhibition. Looking back also gives me the opportunity to see, for example, the connections between my works in terms of the use of materials, but even more so the way they build upon one another, which is reflected in their meaning.
The beautiful, vaulted, historic space of the Rákóczi House at the Miskolc Gallery is very inspiring. I feel that this environment suits the mood of my work well; instead of large installations, I have deliberately selected smaller, more intimate pieces. I use natural materials, sewing my drawings onto hand-woven linen, dyeing them with plant extracts, or transferring the imprints of plants onto the canvas through steaming (ecoprint). I incorporate a wide variety of objects into my works: photographs, paper, mirrors, and all sorts of other items. I transform and layer the surfaces through soaking, rusting, salt deposition, or gelatin.
My works are based on a diary-like processing of personally experienced life situations. In my earliest works, such as *Holdaskönyv* (Moon Book), which reinterprets the poems of Sándor Weöres and Béla Pásztor, this personal element is still hidden behind the quotations. In the equally early series titled *Tükör* (Mirror), it appears directly as a tool for self-healing.
Because of the similarities in human life situations, personal experiences can become relatable to others. I hope that, in this way, a broader, shared diary will emerge from these individual stories. In the works titled *Százarc* (Hundred faces), *Ismeretlen* (Unknown), and *Emlékezet* (Memory), this personal dimension expands to articulate more general human experiences. In my latest installation, *Takarítás* (Cleaning), I rework my own diaries in such a way that their text becomes illegible. Through this gesture, I highlight the futility of preserving personal stories. Instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, let us focus on living in the present. The title of the exhibition, PRESENT/BEING, also refers to this dual meaning.
In the first room of the exhibition, issues related to our relationship with nature and our environment are presented. Alongside the transformation of rural life and our growing distance from the natural environment, the work titled *Field* points to the calming, sustaining power of a direct connection to nature.
In the sequence of these works, it is important to me that, alongside difficult life situations, the possibility of resolution also be revealed: the voice of acceptance and faith. An important message of these works is that experiencing illness and other trials does not lead to loneliness, but rather to a more profound experience of human relationships or to finding God.
In the work titled *The Sign*, displayed on a canvas suspended in space, the figures of people in the process of healing are embraced by golden threads. These same golden threads run through individual pieces in the series titled *Certainty*, which are sewn from plant materials, and this motif also appears in the works titled *Find*, where mummified animals and bones are encircled by embroidery. These objects remind us of the transience of our material existence, yet at the same time they seek the possibility and security of spiritual immortality.
I would like to draw visitors’ attention to the fact that our human relationships, truly lived in the present, are more important than material mementos. Let us not leave objects behind, but rather pass something on through our lives and our example.