The Alcove Project: Bell

Bell is part of my series "Spring", dedicated to the trauma of witnessing caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine through social media and news. The black skeleton of a house looms like a ghost, a haunting memory of loss, sacrifice, or separation. Yet, where only ashes remain, the possibility of growth persists. As the future unfolds, an essential question emerges: What will grow from today's destruction, oblivion, and loss?

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Votive offerings, found across cultures and religions, represent a softened form of sacrifice—a gesture of gratitude for miracles or a plea for healing. Beyond their traditional meanings and diverse forms, I see them as a means of communication, both with oneself and with the world. I invite participants to share a story, memory, or wish they want to preserve in time, like an insect in amber. This story—whether sad, cheerful, or deeply personal—should resonate in the present, something that "disturbs" in a meaningful way. It may express gratitude or embody hope for what is yet to come.

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The object “Bell”, as the central figure in the composition, is the image of my question to the participants: what do we have now, what have we experienced, and what are we grateful for, and what do we hope for, so that in the future, despite the traumatic past, the world around us will be kinder? This project is about communication, about building a community where the traditional act of offering a gift bridges the internal and external.

 

As the artist, I will translate these stories into images and then into physical objects. To embody the stories, I use different techniques such as satin stitch embroidery, sewing, felting, modelling, 3D pen hand-writing, and materials, such as cotton and woolen threads, fabric, paper, glass beads, sea shells, PVC film, etc. Over time, the space surrounding "Bell" will fill with these offerings, just as the sky reveals stars as darkness falls. Since participants entrust me with their thoughts and time, I wish to reciprocate their generosity. At the project’s conclusion, each participant may reclaim their votive gift. In this way, the final installation will be fleeting, existing only once—yet remaining in memory as a shared experience.

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All photographs were taken by the artist and published with the participants' permission and are only a small part of the project's archive.