Pillars of Home

Solo exhibition by Csilla Klenyánszki at PaperLab gallery, Mai Manó House


Open to the public:
July 11, 2019 – August 25, 2019.
Tuesday - Sunday 12:00 – 19:00.
Closed on Mondays and public holidays.
Organizers: Imre Kiss, Judit Flóra Schuller

The challenges of early motherhood are transformed into a game: the lack of time, the fragility of a new life, the weight of responsibility, our changing identities, tension. These are the elements. Care, strength, patience, devotion. These are the things holding it together.

Pillars of Home consists of ninety-eight balancing sculptures, made during the artist’s son’s nap, when their home – the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom or even the staircase – became a studio for no more than thirty minutes at a time. The pillars rely on their own inner stability while being framed only by the floor and the ceiling. As the objects are being piled up, they become a coherent entity, but their delicate arrangement and balancing structure makes them vulnerable. They can be destroyed at any moment.

Not only the existence of the image is in danger if the installation collapses, but the noise of the fallen objects might awaken the sleeping baby, which puts an end to the working session.

The series of performative interactions can be seen as personal research for balance between early parenthood and an artistic practice. Pillars of Home gives ninety-eight answers to one dilemma: how does a mother find balance between all her duties and priorities. A never-ending juggling act.