In 2026, I participated in Moldova Art Week — one of the largest contemporary art events in Moldova, bringing together exhibition spaces, urban environments, and contemporary artistic practices. As part of the project, my artwork “Strength in Vulnerability” was presented within the MAW urban exhibition alongside works by more than one hundred artists.
In addition to the urban exhibition, I also participated in the physical exhibition hosted at Palatul Național „Nicolae Sulac”, where I presented the work “Nigrum” from the “Nigredo” series.
If “Strength in Vulnerability” explored emotional openness and inner honesty within the public space of the city, “Nigrum” represented a much darker and deeper psychological layer. The work was inspired by the alchemical stage of Nigredo — the phase associated with dissolution, confrontation with shadow, inner collapse, and transformation through darkness.
In alchemical symbolism, Nigredo is considered the necessary beginning of transformation. It is the stage in which false identities, illusions, and internal structures begin to break apart. Psychologically, this process can be understood as the encounter with the unconscious — the moment when a person faces fear, fragmentation, grief, existential uncertainty, and the parts of the self that are usually hidden beneath social roles and external images.
Through “Nigrum”, I wanted to explore the tension between destruction and rebirth: the moment where darkness is no longer perceived as an enemy, but as a space of transition and internal reconstruction. The work reflects the idea that transformation rarely begins with clarity or light; more often, it begins with disorientation, vulnerability, silence, and descent inward.
Presenting this work inside the exhibition at Palatul Național „Nicolae Sulac” created an important contrast with the urban dimension of MAW. One part of my participation existed openly within the rhythm of the city, while “Nigrum” invited the viewer into a more intimate and introspective psychological space.
Moldova Art Week 2026 once again demonstrated that contemporary Moldovan art possesses a powerful voice and the ability to become an active part of the country’s evolving cultural landscape.
