Two memories of one mother's death, room 4
One of five installations made of handmade paper with different scents and materials associated with specific memories and rituals, which co-exists with books and video.

ROOM 4

Intense scent of herbal mixtures.

Installation consisting of 2 objects, 950 pages
dimensions of objects: 180 x 150 cm; 180 x 150 cm
size of a single page: 11 x 7 cm
material: cellulose from leaves, inflorescences, roots, stems, seeds, fruits, rhizomes of expired herbal waste (from herbal mixtures for various ailments)
technique: handmade paper, own technique

List of herbs:
Licorice root / Radix Glycyrrhizae
Strawberry herb and leaf / Herba et Folium Fragariae vescae
Field horsetail / Equisetum arvense
Hawthorn inflorescence / Inflorescentia Crataegi
Pine buds / Gemmae Pini
Cornflower flower / Flos Centaureae cyanus
Sage leaf / Folium Salviae officinalis
Fennel fruit / Fructus Foeniculum vulgare
Thyme herb / Herba Thymi
Primrose flower / Flos Primulae
Black elderberry flower / Flos Sambuci nigri
Wood speedwell herb / Herba Veronicae sylvaticae
Walnut leaf / Folium Juglandis regiae
Buckthorn bark / Cortex Rhamni cathartici
Coltsfoot leaf / Folium Tussilaginis
Marigold flower head / Caput Floris Calendulae
Rosemary leaf / Folium Rosmarini
Chamomile flower / Flos Chamomillae
Burdock herb / Herba Arctii
Black elderberry fruit / Fructus Sambuci nigri
Valerian root / Radix Valerianae
Marigold flower / Flos Calendulae
Licorice root / Radix Glycyrrhizae
Iceland moss / Cetraria islandica
Ground flaxseed / Semina Lini molita
Valerian root / Radix Valerianae
Peppermint leaf / Folium Menthae piperitae
Wild rose fruit / Fructus Rosae caninae
Rowan fruit / Fructus Sorbi aucupariae
Hawthorn fruit / Fructus Crataegi
Black currant leaf / Folium Ribes nigrum
Nettle leaf / Folium Urticae
Cat's claw powder / Pulvis Uncariae tomentosae
Chamomile root / Radix Chamomillae
Cinquefoil rhizome / Rhizoma Potentillae
Calamus rhizome / Rhizoma Acori calami
Yarrow herb / Herba Achilleae millefolii
White sage leaf / Folium Salviae apianae
Tansy flower / Flos Tanaceti
Rosemary herb / Herba Rosmarini
Dandelion flower / Flos Taraxaci
Common juniper / Juniperus communis
Common verbena / Verbena officinalis
Angelica root / Radix Angelicae

The theme of Barbara Mydlak’s works explores the removal and modification of difficult memories through the conscious repetition of them.
In addition to the two-volume dissertation, which presents both scientific and poetic perspectives, Mydlak created five handmade paper installations.
These installations were designed for specific places for her family home, the layout of which is featured on the cover of the five small books that accompany the thesis.

These handmade paper installations take the form of curtains constructed from a total of 2,000 one-of-a-kind pages of different sizes.
Each curtain is made from specific materials associated with memories of a particular space: herbal mixtures, flowers, pine needles, burnt books mixed with candle wax, and mourning clothes, all having the intense scents that may trigger recollections.

These large-scale books have been written without words but with the nature of hydrogen bonds, while guiding the process through hand gesture, water flow, and physical interactions. You can read them once the light exposes their fibrous skeleton.
Curtains, symbolically, exist ‘in between’ on the boundary of worlds – separating ‘the living’ from ‘the dead’, ‘the past’ from ‘the present’, ‘here’ and ‘there’ and giving the special meaning to the spaces they divide.
They can conceal an ‘alternate reality’, create intimacy and are crucial in theater for separating the ‘fictional’ from ‘the real’, as well as the stage from the audience. They serve a technical role by hiding stage preparations and marking ‘the beginning’ and ‘end’ of spectacle. By lifting the curtain, the audience becomes observers or active participants in the event.

The installation is part of Barbara Mydlak’s PhD completed at the Faculty of Painting and Drawing, Abakanowicz University of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland
Dissertation Promoter: Prof. dr hab. Anna Goebel

More information soon...