My art is inseparable from the coping after survival and from the gesture and actions of healing and from the love of animals. These transformations have creative potential. Because traumas must be transformed into steps of community building, common development and connection.
In 2003, I obtained my first degree (BA) in teaching with a minor in music. I earned my second degree, an MA, in pedagogy and Hungarian literature in 2008. I’ve been writing poems since 2010.
The post-communist Hungary, where I was born and which is now becoming a competitive authoritarian system, restricts artists' self-expression and existential safety in many ways. As a result, I lost my connection to art for almost a decade and a half. For a long time, I worked with the rehabilitation of traumatized dogs. In January 2024, my husband and I emigrated to Finland.
Since then, I have been teaching myself to draw and paint. The endless pine forests, exploring the archipelago, and the atmosphere of the harbors fill me with joy. I want to leave as small ecological footprint as possible, even in my creative work. That's why oil pastels and water-soluble paints appeal to me.
It is important to support the abused so that they can become survivors from victims. It is important that they have autonomy and a future. It is important that everyone has their own dignified life.
That's why my vision is to define the pieces of reality, to put them in context, to help us face them. My vision is a society where discourse on human rights is unnecessary because free participation, choice of profession, security, equality, and work-based wages free from discrimination are fundamental and integral parts of public thinking.
The more space we give to creation and the thinking that goes with it, the more people will find words and ways to express their emotions and experiences. They will be able to broaden their horizons and demonstrate their values. Belonging to a community gives joy. Art provides affirmation, friendships and a supportive atmosphere that relieves loneliness. We all want to belong to others. We want recognition. A life full of dignity and opportunities.
I think these are the building blocks of healthy personality development and, indirectly, of societies becoming adults and responsible. I would like to encourage and support my fellow women by sharing my story. To put the importance of women's and animal rights into discourse.
Blue mood
I was six years old when Maszat came into my life. She was my first dog. She was a little girl dachshund. She played a big part in my decision to spend almost a decade rehabilitating dogs.
Once, during an interview, a journalist said that she sensed a calm yet sad power of leadership emanating from me and asked me about it. Unfortunately, I was not ready to answer her honestly at that time. I had spent more than four decades in Hungary whose apathetic and corrupt society expected me to put up with everything, to not name the abuse of the system or individuals, to not ask for help, and to not reflect on how toxic it all was. But I choose to do so. I make my voice heard.
As a child, I couldn't protect Maszat from my mother's and grandmother's abuses. I couldn't save myself either. Sometimes, for Easter, I received live animals: a rabbit and chickens. It was crazy because we lived in a tiny flat. I had to cope with losing them. No matter how much I cried no one cared. I knew they had eaten them. Animals died because of my mother, and she beat some of them. I decided that I want to help at least that many animals in my lifetime. That's why I became a dog behavior therapist. And not too surprisingly, I am a vegetarian.
To this day, I am still learning that there is no shame in crying when I'm expressing my pain or fear. It's okay to be insecure. It's okay if I'm not giving it my all. It's okay to change. It's okay to set boundaries for people and cut off contact with them. And most importantly, it is not taboo to say what the other person didn't consider was taboo to commit.
The floating colored dots and circles around the dachshund represent a kind of miracle or protective cover, in my interpretation.