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.
Technical details
Viktor, the Hungry Bird
Self-portrait
When I look at myself as an outside observer, I see the sparkle and anticipation in my eyes. You could even call it confidence in the future. I am balanced and full of energy. To create. Right now, paintings. Things to build with. A successful new business in a new country, meeting new people. With these energies, I can interiorize elements of a new culture and social environment alongside my existing content. It feels good to look at myself through my self-portrait and see the combined power of my life energy and my sensibility. Just as feels good to receive confirmation that, despite all the obstacles, I have been on the right track so far and I can trust my instincts and myself.
What does it take for a person to be at peace with themselves? What does it take for a woman to live in peace? First of all, silence. That is, a living space, a social environment that is not littered with harmful, unrealistic male expectations and definitions. “A woman is a real woman if she is obedient.” “A woman is a good woman if she is young, slim, and has a toned body.” “A woman’s main purpose is motherhood and sexually serving her partner.” “A woman’s place is in the kitchen, next to the wooden spoon.” Do they sound familiar? Before I met my husband, I cannot even count how many sick ideas mentally ill men in Hungary harassed me with. At the age of 17, I became a victim of sexual abuse for the first time by a music school teacher. He told me that I shouldn't go to music college because a woman should get married and have children first. Later, in my thirties, there were those who expected me, at 158cm, not to weigh more than 48kg. Others said they hated it when you could see the roots of dyed hair on women. He declared this with gray temples. Typical double standards. The latter may seem like trivial nonsense, but we should not dismiss them lightly! These harmful views, which function as a tool for the oppression of women and the objectification of their bodies, send many young girls to hospital with anorexia. Hundreds of thousands of underage girls suffer from low self-esteem, body image issues, and shame about their natural, healthy appearance. I wonder what guys like that think when their own daughters are treated the same way by men who are 15-25 years older and similar to them? If a little girl experiences a toxic patriarchal male role model while growing up, it's no surprise that she'll start her young adulthood with such relationships.
Upon arriving in Finland, I immediately noticed that advertisements and billboards in shopping malls featured people of all ages, skin colors, body types, sexual orientations, and religious beliefs. This is completely natural, as it is only natural that people are diverse, just like the world itself. At least in a society that thinks and functions healthily. Hungary, of course, is light years away from this. I often feel ashamed and sad because I am Hungarian. At times like this, I hope that people in other parts of the world know that those who have fled that country do not share the views of those in power there in the slightest. Returning to the present, it is an incredibly liberating feeling that here, in the "home of the sauna," the body is simply just a body. People don't stare and size each other up on the street, nor do they shout obscenities from taxis or while traveling on public transportation. A woman's body belongs to her. It is not a fetish object for others.