CLARA GOLDENSTEIN

Further East, as Dusk Falls

Fine Art and Design

I feel like collecting is not only a working method for you, but a way of relating to the world. How do you think about the memory of found materials and images and the new meanings they can acquire once detached from their original context?
I believe objects carry some kind of aura within them. That’s why we are attracted to some and repelled by others… By “aura” or “essence” I mean traces of previous stories, routes, or environments, which become apparent through materiality – this is the most interesting part for me. Instead of buying a new piece of wood, working with a found one provides me with a multilayered starting point. It is already communicating something to me, and my work comes as a response to these reminiscences, adding layers that come from myself. The piece becomes a dialogue between me and the memories brought together with that surface. We work together.

You work with the idea of identity as something constructed by fragments and associations. How do you understand this fragmentation in relation to the way identity functions today?
I guess fragmentation is inherent today. Information comes from far away and also from up close. So I think that one way of building an identity within this fragmented reality is to incorporate this structure and play with it. Playing with association is kind of a natural response to that – we associate in order to create meaning and digest this huge amount of crumbled information. At the same time, there should be some space for grounding, for connecting with something that touches you deeply and clicks with a part of your identity. So, I understand this methodology as a process of finding what “sticks” to you within this fragmented, overwhelming reality, and creating some kind of “auto-narrative.”

Collecting seems a kind of comforting activity for you. Does the process of searching and collecting sometimes become more important than the final object itself?
Through searching and collecting I understand myself more – which is very comforting. For example, by coming to Central and Eastern Europe I found a part that shapes my identity deeply. It was initially overwhelming because I couldn’t pinpoint the exact feeling. But then I slowly filled the walls and shelves of my bedroom, the metal boxes and folders from my studio – I created an inventory. This was part of my workflow, but also part of this identity-building process that can be extremely ambiguous: com forting but also a bit scary. Searching for objects in flea markets guides me through an intimate process of discovery, as the objects reveal the link between my identity and this land. To find the same blue glass vase from my grandma’s house in Rio de Janeiro in a second-hand shop in Brno – what a weirdly beautiful vertigo…

photo: Polina Davydenko