Cut-outs

• 2022

The work belongs to a series of objects made of cut-out carpets, whose shape refers to the well-known Rorschach test. Created in 1921 by the Swiss psychoanalyst Hermann Rorschach for the purpose of obtaining a clinical diagnosis in personality disorders, its usefulness has been challenged by modern science. The test was based on presenting inkblots to the patient for interpretation, which was supposed to reveal the unconscious psychological contents of the examined person through a process of attaching meaning to the ambiguous stimuli. As a result, it was possible to detect the patient’s emotional states, personality traits, values, attitudes, goals, defence mechanisms, fears, complexes, traumas etc.

The ornamental form of the large-format carpet used by the artist triggers associations with psychoanalytical tests mainly because of its disconcerting yet non asymmetrical dynamics of composition, and also due to the unusual massiveness of the material in which the pattern was made.

An additional aspect of the work is its reference to the idea of decorating the walls of flats and houses with rugs. This aesthetic custom, which is a particularly common in the former USSR countries, hints at aspirations connected with beautifying one’s living space, which, despite its intimate, cosy character, was supposed to convey the owner’s status.