Ildikó Horváth

Residency period: February 2021
Website

Ildikó works mainly with sculpture and installation exploring the limits of stability and fragility with the materials.
Interested in working with the sensory experience of the physical matter, she questions the trace and duration that our creations should last. Therefore, her body of work is often composed of ephemeral pieces.

Ildikó started her residency at AADK with researching the material qualities of the dried-out remnants of the barbary fig, a local cactus plant, that thanks to its fibre structure, is able to retain a considerable amount of water, thus thrive on limited water sources. Some years ago, many of them around here dried out due to a plague.

There are numerous abandoned houses in and around Blanca. When stumbling upon them, she had to think of the dryness she experiences here. As a place is being left, life is withdrawn from its interior and exterior spaces, memories drying out slowly as life continues somewhere else and the decay of the houses gives place for new beginnings.
Working with the dried fibres of the fig and combining it with locally found clay, Ildikó has been using water as a main catalyst of reaching different stages of transformation while balancing between stability and flexibility.

Besides, she has been recording the sound of dried elements in the surroundings (plants, sand, mud and stones) and of the material residues of deserted buildings. By editing and altering the recordings according to their material characteristics, she is exploring the perception of time through body and material.

Residency supported by Media Art Friesland