Natalia
Menyakina

Digital collage, canvas print, bugle-bead embroidery.

Digital collage, canvas print, embellished with bugle beads, seed beads, and rhinestones.

Canvas print, bead embroidery, stained-glass contour paint.

The work examines the phenomenon of idealization as a mode of engaging with reality, in which the psychic, the material, and the imaginary become inseparable. Idealization is understood not only as a psychological mechanism that offers protection from uncertainty, but also as a means of projecting and shaping the world through the attribution of desired qualities to an external object.

The material does not fully yield to perceptual structures: it continues to act, to resist, and to break through the images imposed upon it. The visual composition is built on contrast — a decorative layer veils a predatory form, yet never negates its presence.

IDEALIS articulates the tension between the visible and the actual, between projection and the object’s resistance. The work poses a question that extends beyond the psychology of perception to the ontological status of form itself: to what extent an object can be reduced to an image, and where its own inherent form begins.

The installation Multi-Unitas presents a visual interpretation of the phenomenon of the multiplicity of the Self, drawing on the psychosynthetic concept of subpersonalities and their role in shaping the psychic structure.

The theoretical foundation of the work is the concept of subpersonalities developed within psychosynthesis — a psychotherapeutic approach founded by the Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli. According to this framework, the personality is not a monolithic structure but is composed of multiple autonomous psychic components that arise in response to external and internal factors. These subpersonalities perform adaptive functions, yet their differing motivations and needs may come into conflict, generating intrapsychic tensions. The installation visualizes this process, inviting the viewer to reflect on the inner polyphony of the subject. Interaction with the object — producing sounds from the bells — becomes a metaphor for integrating fragmented elements of the psyche, where the harmonization of individual experience is expressed through musical coherence. In this way, Multi-Unitas not only brings forward questions of psychic integration and self-reflection, but also creates a space in which the viewer becomes an active participant in the symbolic process of achieving inner balance.

The installation Tree presents a metaphorical space that addresses questions of the authenticity of human desires and the mechanisms through which they are formed.

In this work, I explore the boundaries between genuine aspirations and motivations imposed by external factors. Within a symbolically saturated environment, the viewer is invited to reflect on the extent to which their choices are shaped by internal impulses and to what extent by cultural and social constructs.

The structure of Tree refers to the idea of multiple potential vectors of personal development. The fruit-images placed within its crown function as archetypal signs that activate associative patterns at the level of both the collective and individual unconscious. The process of interacting with the installation initiates a personalized reading of the symbols, emphasizing the subjective nature of perception. In psychoanalytic discourse, the apple is interpreted as a symbol of self-knowledge and inner wholeness. The mirrored elements incorporated into the installation highlight the necessity of self-reflection as a condition for authentic experience. Thus, Tree creates a space for semantic and visual introspection, encouraging the viewer to reconsider the mechanisms behind the awareness of their own desires and the ways in which they are articulated.

Acrylic / stained-glass contour paint / rhinestones on canvas.