Memory Palace

Walking through the chambers of the imaginary Memory Palace is a mnemonic known since antiquity. In a journey through the emotional landscape of youth that goes beyond simple images of the past, the objects encountered not only evoke memories, but also evoke deeply ambivalent emotions: fascination, admiration for beauty, but also revulsion and shame. These feelings, rooted in the intense experiences of adolescence, reflect moments of identity formation during a period full of tension between self-discovery and the pressure of social norms. The art of exploring these emotions becomes a tool for dialogue between the subject and the inexpressible or excluded, allowing for a deeper understanding of the process of adolescence and its impact on memory structure and self-awareness. 

​In the course of growing up, we face boundaries and ambiguities. We place, separate and define our place. This experience can lead to fear and disgust, but also sublimation – the transformation of chaos into art. Increasingly, it becomes a space where the boundaries of norms and rules are transgressed, merging with notions of ambiguity and perversion. Artistic experience becomes a platform for dialogue between the subject and what has been excluded or remains unspeakable, creating new possibilities for understanding and processing our fears and desires. 

Abject – a psychoanalytic term introduced by Julia Kristeva in Powers of Horror (1982)– is all about ambiguity. It separates us from what threatens us, but does not cut us off from it completely. On the contrary, it recognizes the threat as something eternally present. It is a mixture of judgment and emotion, condemnation and longing. It is inscribed in the duality of the experience of socialization into the female role, exposing the repressed, the unwanted, the hidden. It unseals boundaries. ​

​curator and author of the text: Marianna Lomza​