Project “Terra Incognita”
In the project Terra Incognita, I explore a form of perception that extends beyond visual experience and unfolds through touch, memory, and embodied sensation.
The project consists of a series of objects: a book without text or images, vessels, and wall compositions created from natural and transformed materials. Each object considers matter as a carrier of traces, memory, and processes of transformation.
The book, made from handmade cast paper with plant impressions, refers to the idea of knowledge that exists before language. Devoid of text and imagery, it is perceived through touch, texture, and the traces preserved on its surface.
The vessels, which cannot be filled with water, refer to the idea of origin and the beginnings of life. Their form preserves the concept of a container while moving beyond its traditional function. They speak of the memory of form — of what remains and continues to exist while transforming its state.
The wall compositions continue this exploration of material through scale and space. Sheets of handmade paper with plant traces become a surface where the memory of nature, texture, and a sense of presence come together.
In my practice, I work with natural and transformed materials. Terra Incognita is my way of drawing attention to what remains hidden within matter and reveals itself through interaction with it.
Terra Incognita (book)
Materials:
hand-made paper with plant impressions, natural suede, waxed thread, engraved hardboard, wood stain, tung oil, wood.
Cover and spine:
The cover is based on hardboard, whose deep texture is brought out by wood stain and preserved with tung oil. The oil reveals the fibres of the material and makes it feel warm and alive to the touch. The surface of the cover is adorned with hand-engraved botanical motifs. This process leaves ‘scars’ on the material, transforming its natural form into a timeless archive. A curved tree branch, firmly sewn to the cover with waxed thread, replaces the traditional spine, transforming the book into an archaic instrument and a sacred sanctuary.
Connecting element:
Soft, natural suede in a deep green colour serves as a tactile bridge. It gently separates and simultaneously binds the rigid slab-like cover and the delicate paper contents, acting as a connecting fabric between the various materials and textures. Inner block: The pages are made of hand-made paper in a grassy hue, created with the addition of plant fibres. They preserve the physical imprints of plants — not an illustration of the living, but its materialised trace. We read this ‘text’ through the rhythm of the surface and its tactile presence. The sheets are bound with waxed thread, whose contrasting stitches create a graphic, rhythmic pattern.
Dimensions:
Height: 30 cm
Width: 20 cm
Depth: 6 cm
Number of spreads: 23
Weight: 819 g
Format: unique artist’s edition / one-off piece
Terra Incognita (Vessel I)
Materials: papier-mâché (recycled cardboard, glue, plaster), metal mesh, pine branches, spirit-based wood stain, tung oil, tempera and acrylic paint, iron oxide pigment, colourless wax.
Base and form:
The vessel is made from papier-mâché using recycled cardboard and plaster. The internal structure is reinforced in places with metal mesh, which allows the form to retain its flexibility whilst remaining sturdy. The material, derived from the recycling process, is transformed into a new structure — an object that lies between the natural and the man-made.
Wooden elements:
Pine branches embedded in the vessel’s surface maintain a connection with the natural form. Hand-engraving on the wood transforms the natural grain into a trace of human intervention. Treated with wood stain and tung oil, the surface reveals the wood’s structure whilst retaining its warmth and texture.
Surface:
A multi-layered coating of tempera and acrylic paints creates a complex earthy palette—shades of ochre, sienna, umber and mineral pigments. The dry texture and matt finish preserve the feel of a natural surface, where colour does not conceal the material but reveals its layers.
Concept:
The vessel from the ‘Terra Incognita’ project draws on the process of a new form coming into being — the moment when matter becomes a vessel of memory. Traces of handcrafting, natural elements and transformed materials come together in an object that preserves the history of their origins.
Dimensions:
Height: 34 cm
Width: 21 cm
Depth: 21 cm
Weight: 2085 g
Format: unique artist’s piece / one-off
The piece is in a private collection
Terra Incognita (Vessel II)
Materials:
Papier-mâché (recycled cardboard, glue, plaster), metal mesh, pine root, spirit-based wood stain, tung oil, tempera and acrylic paints, iron oxide pigment.
Base and form:
The vessel is crafted from papier-mâché made from recycled cardboard and plaster. The internal structure is partially reinforced with metal mesh, which lends the object strength whilst retaining a sense of plasticity and hand-modelled texture. The irregular silhouette and open form emphasise the natural quality of the material and the process of its transformation.
Wooden elements:
The central element of the composition is a pine root, which has retained its natural shape and growth pattern. The surface of the wood has been hand-carved with engravings that highlight the natural structure of the timber. Alcohol-based wood stain and tung oil bring out the grain pattern and enhance the depth of the texture, whilst preserving the sense of the material’s natural origin.
Surface:
A multi-layered coating of tempera and acrylic paints, with the addition of iron oxide pigment, creates a complex, mineral-like surface. Earthy tones, a matt texture and expressive relief give the impression of a material shaped by time and natural processes. The colour does not conceal the object’s structure but emphasises it, allowing the traces of handcrafting and the distinctive features of each layer to be seen.
Concept:
This vessel continues the series of objects from the Terra Incognita project, which explores the memory of materials and their ability to preserve the traces of time. Natural and transformed materials are combined into a single form, in which each element retains its own history of origin. The object exists on the boundary between the natural and the man-made, drawing attention to the fragile connection between matter, memory and the process of transformation.
Dimensions:
Height: 33 cm
Width: 25 cm
Depth: 25 cm
Weight: 2.4 kg
Format:
Unique artist’s piece / one-off.
Terra Incognita (Panel I)
Materials:
wooden stretcher frame, burlap treated with tung oil, sheets of plaster and papier-mâché made from recycled cardboard with plant imprints, acrylic paint, waxed thread.
Base and structure:
The panel is constructed on a wooden stretcher frame covered with burlap treated with tung oil. The surface of the base retains the natural texture of the material and serves as a backdrop for the fragments of hand-made paper placed upon it. The sheets, made from a mixture of plaster and papier-mâché based on recycled cardboard, are shaped by hand and retain the imprints of plants. Each fragment becomes a separate carrier of a natural imprint — a frozen moment of interaction between plant material, human gesture and time.
Joining the elements:
The fragments of paper are secured to the surface using waxed thread. Hand-sewing preserves the sense of a living creative process, where the joining of materials becomes part of the work’s image. One of the sheets is not sewn to the base but is loosely placed amongst the other fragments — it can be removed and held in the hands. This element broadens the perception of the object: the work transcends a purely visual experience and becomes a tactile interaction.
Surface and texture:
The embossed imprints of plants left in the paper create a surface resembling an imprint of memory. The layers of material, irregularities and natural variations in texture preserve the sense of a natural process, where each element carries the story of its origin.
Concept:
This panel from the ‘Terra Incognita’ project continues an exploration of matter as a medium for memory. The hand-cast sheets resemble fragments of an unknown archive — surfaces where, instead of text, there is a language of traces, textures and touch. The ability to remove one of the elements transforms the object into a space for interaction: the viewer not only looks at the work, but also becomes a participant in the process of revealing the material.
Dimensions:
Height: 60 cm
Width: 120 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Format:
unique artist’s object / one-off piece.
Terra Incognita (Panel II)
Materials:
wooden stretcher frame, burlap treated with tung oil, sheets (plaster and papier-mâché made from recycled cardboard) with plant impressions, acrylic paint, waxed thread.
Base and form:
The panel is mounted on a wooden stretcher frame, covered with burlap and treated with tung oil. Four hand-cast sheets, created from a mixture of plaster and papier-mâché made from recycled cardboard, are arranged on the surface. Each sheet preserves plant imprints, transforming natural forms into tangible traces of time.
Composition:
The sheets are arranged so that they partially overlap, forming a unified composition in which individual elements retain their independence whilst remaining part of the overall space. One of the sheets is not fixed in place and can be removed from the panel. The ability to hold it in one’s hands serves as an extension of the project’s concept, where perception arises not only through sight but also through direct contact with the material.
Surface:
The texture of the sheets retains traces of handcrafting and plant imprints. A thin layer of acrylic paint emphasises the surface’s relief without concealing the material’s structure. The contrast between the coarse base fabric and the delicate sheets enhances the sense of layering and the memory encapsulated within the material.
Concept:
‘Panno II’ continues the series of wall compositions from the ‘Terra Incognita’ project, dedicated to the memory of the material and bodily perception. The work draws attention to the traces that nature and time leave on the surface, and invites the viewer to perceive the object not only visually, but also through touch.
Dimensions:
Height: 50 cm
Width: 45 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Format: unique artist’s object / one-off piece.
Terra Incognita (фрагменты)
Эта работа продолжает размышление о памяти материала и формах, существующих на границе природного и созданного человеком. Объекты появились в процессе работы над проектом Terra Incognita, но постепенно обрели самостоятельное значение.
Каждый фрагмент хранит отпечатки растений, сохранившиеся в поверхности материала. Они напоминают находки, происхождение которых невозможно определить: камни, семена, окаменевшие формы или артефакты неизвестной территории. Их неопределенность становится частью зрительского опыта, позволяя воспринимать объект не через узнавание, а через тактильное и чувственное присутствие.
Созданные из переработанной бумажной массы, эти объекты продолжают идею трансформации, лежащую в основе проекта. Материал не исчезает после завершения работы, а приобретает новую форму, сохраняя память о предыдущем состоянии и становясь частью единого художественного пространства Terra Incognita.
Материалы: папье-маше (переработанный картон, клей, гипс), отпечатки растений, темперные и акриловые краски, железооксидный пигмент.
