“Don’t wash dirty laundry in public” sounds like an imperative rule: what happens inside must stay inside. Richka’s project of the same name explores a reality far removed from the typical, deeply desired feeling of home as a sanctuary of safety and comfort. Instead, it reframes home as a place of danger and re-traumatization, but at the same time, a space for acceptance.
The textiles and glass used by the artist in her installation—including a dress embroidered by her own hands—are household artifacts that carry multiple layers of memory: from crystal sets gathering dust in sideboards to dishes shattered during a fight. The fabrics feel soft, delicate, yet suffocating and coercive; and with them come cleaning, mopping, wiping, draping, and concealing. Sweeping up, tidying away, hiding the traces.
The artist asks herself: what should one do with an experience they would rather avoid in another reality? Yet, one can learn to live with this experience differently—accepting it as a part of one’s own history, viewing it from an alternative angle, and gradually learning how to practice self-care within it.
Free Admission
Details: lvivart.center
