Gašper Kunšič

Skyward Waves I, II, III, 2021
thread, cotton, linen, MDF, 275 x 50 x 50 cm each

Whispering Pillows, 2021
thread, linen, fern, 45 x 45 cm each

Dancing Sun, 2021
thread, linen, wood, 30 x 21 cm

In the Fern Forest, 2021–2023
fine art print, 70 x 50 x 3 cm

courtesy of the artist

“At one point in my life, I almost succumbed to pain. All I could think about was how to get well. In a book on medicinal herbs that for years laid on a shelf in my grandparents’ living room, there is a chapter right at the end describing some rather unusual incidents by an herbalist writer that seemed almost magical to me. Among them is the story of a man who was in terrible pain. The herbalist told him to go into the woods, pick ferns and fill a cotton pillowcase with them, then put the pillow on the part of his body where it hurt. According to testimonies, this pillow almost magically took away the pain. Later, it went from person to person, relieving a number of ailments. It did not seem strange to me that ferns should be these miraculous, healing plants, as it is said they help us hear the language of animals on Midsummer Night, and their other healing properties are also well known. So I went into the forest, picked ferns and filled the Whispering Pillows with them. In the forest, the tree trunks sway in the wind. The hanging ribbons are thus trees in the space, and when the wind rushes through them, their crowns move upward like Skyward Waves. Towards the sky. You may enter them. The Dancing Sun is peeking out from among the trees and ferns, as if woven from tiny spruce twigs, beaming a smile at those who cross his path.” (Gašper Kunšič)

Whispering Pillows, 2021, thread, linen, fern, courtesy of the artist, photo: Arnož Božič