Use in the case of darkness
Summer in the Village is my internal shelter for memories, where I keep coming back to scoop some strength to live the adult life if it becomes dark, painful or frightening.
This project is the tool for materializing memory. I use personal reminiscence, collective subconscious, and a pinch of what could possibly once happen. Memories tend to slip away, dissolve and change with time, but there remains the sense of internal support and light, which I’d like to share.
- Fabric
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For the patterned cover, I used vintage fabrics I had collected over several years. I combined swatches of varying textures and shades to create the intended visual rhythm. This is the largest-scale piece I have ever sewn: roughly 15 square meters of fabric.
- Inner gallery
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The photographs were the hardest part. I have only a few originals left, and even fewer that truly fit the project. So I decided to reconstruct a lost family album out of what was and what might have been.
I used montage, personal archives, and magical realism. I drew the key images with my left hand, in the style of a child’s drawings: without my grandmother and her house on the hill, the album would not have felt complete.
All photographs are printed on linen: the faded effect comes from printing on natural fabric. Here, I felt it was especially fitting
- Soundtrack
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For the soundtrack, I selected folk melodies and lullabies typical of the area where my grandmother’s house once stood. I also used original audio recordings of Anna Korolkova, a storyteller from Voronezh. The logic here is simple: I was born in Voronezh, and in my mind, the figure of the storyteller became forever intertwined with the image of my grandmother and my childhood
- Details
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One of its key elements is a milk churn filled with apples and a small pot of salt.
In my village, people loved eating apples with salt, and I added this detail to deepen the atmosphere and the sense of immersion
