CHAIRS. STORIES. HUMAN DESTINIES.

A solo exhibition by Szilvia Terdik

There is one object that features in almost every story, yet we rarely stop to consider just how much it can mean. The chair.

It is there in our homes, in schools, in waiting rooms, and beside conference tables. It provides a place to sit, connects us, and separates us. We wait on it, chat beside it, and sometimes it preserves the memory of someone who is no longer with us.

In Szilvia Terdik's paintings, the chair steps out of the world of everyday objects and becomes a character in its own right. Behind its colours, shapes, unusual proportions and playful appearance, we can discover human qualities, situations and stories.

Her paintings lie somewhere on the border between painting and literature. Just as in a good novel an entire human destiny can unfold from a tiny detail, so too can a single chair reveal more than meets the eye at first glance.

Who sat here before us? Who is waiting for someone? Who occupies this space, and who is the one of whom only a memory remains?

The viewer gradually becomes a storyteller in their own right. They imbue what they see with their own experiences, memories and imagination. Behind the humour and playfulness, deeply personal reflections emerge on human relationships, presence, absence, and the fact that we all need a place in the world.

Perhaps this is why this world of painting feels so familiar. Because we've seen these chairs somewhere before. Perhaps in an old flat, in a childhood memory, at the scene of an important conversation. Or perhaps in a story that hasn't yet been written