My emotions becoming art

🕊️

The last few weeks have been intense, as they have been for everyone in Romania.
I've been dwelling in fear and found it hard to be my usual optimistic self.
I know I’m privileged: I was raised in an intellectual family in Bucharest, with grandparents who were scientists and great-grandparents who were professors.
I fear aggressiveness and brutishness. Of course, hiding emotions behind intellect is another kind of struggle.
These past months have been incredibly difficult. There’s so much to process, to understand, to feel, to integrate.

It feels impossible to show up here with all these vulnerability, so for now I want to share with you two artistic manifestations of my inner world.
My description as an artist sounds like this “Ileana experiments artistically to express her emotions and thoughts. It's her therapeutic way of navigating through life, part of a process of self-discovery.”
My friend, Marlene, Kraftmade, invited me to be part of her Exhibition at Romanian Creative Week in Iasi.
Noli Sapere Toward a New Renaissance
To rediscover what it means to be human, we must first dare to unlearn. Noli Sapere (Dare to Know Nothing) challenges the supremacy of reason and mastery, urging us to embrace the unknown within ourselves.
By flipping this mantra, the exhibition questions whether the relentless quest for control and certainty has led us astray. What if unknowing - the embrace of doubt, intuition, and vulnerability - is the key to shaping a more holistic future?
At a time when technological progress outpaces emotional and spiritual depth, Noli Sapere explores hidden resources within the unseen - our souls, emotions, and collective consciousness - and their role in crafting a future beyond the limitations of the past. Inspired by futurologists like Gerd Leonhard, the exhibition envisions alternative scenarios for a “RE-Renaissance,” integrating the physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of humanity into a speculative vision of renewal.

One of my works is called ‘All the people in me were once kids’.

Inspired by my personal development work and, more recently, by my participation in family constellations, I made this installation by hand-stitching miniature figurines onto a dress.
We perceive people through our own system and by “system,” I mean our body with all its receptors. It is something so obvious, yet at the same time, so difficult to truly grasp. The outside world is merely a perception of each person’s inner world.
We are the receptors of all the information around us, and we perceive others in a unique and subjective way.
This truth is both touching and overwhelming. That is what I felt as I sewed these figurines, thinking about many of the people I have encountered over time.
This installation is part of a therapeutic process. As I stitched the figurines, I connected with many people I know and imagined them as small children. Over time, these individuals were no longer separate beings - they merged, and I felt a deep connection with life itself.

The second one is called “Emotionary”
Just as there is a Herbarium to collect and catalog plants and flowers, or an Alphabet Book to teach us letters and word formation, Emoționar can be seen as an encyclopedia of the soul - an intimate collection of emotions.
At the heart of this installation there is a collection of porcelain lids gathered over time from flea markets. Each comes from an object that was once part of someone’s life - a teapot, a vessel, a box, a soup tureen. Now, the lids become gateways to emotions. On the table, they wait to be lifted, inviting people to feel.
A small object hides under each lid, filled with meaning. It could be something fragile that evokes nostalgia; or it is an unexpected item that stirs up fear.
Emoționar is also about allowing yourself to be surprised, staying present, being in touch, and observing the first feeling that arises from a new experience.

thank you Ilinca, Sirop for this beautiful embroidery.

I am very proud to be part of this Exhibition.
On view Galeria Octav Băncilă, Iași
May 14-25
Romanian Creative Week
Exhibition Architecture, Atelier Vrac: Zenaida Florea, Cristi Bădescu (+photo credits)
Production: Kraftmade: Alex Herberth, Mihai Negru

This was part of me during the last weeks. Hope to be back soon.
Love,
Ileana