In Every Life, I Find You Collection

In Every Life I Find You is a series of charcoal and oil paintings created through a process-based practice rooted in the physical language of archaeology. Working on the floor, I begin each piece by outlining a charcoal “hole” on unstretched canvas that mimics the boundary of a dig site. This form serves both as a physical prompt- immersing me in the feeling of working at an actual excavation site - and as a symbolic doorway, an entry point into another time or life.

Within this space, I use gestural mark-making to unearth skeletal figures and vessel forms. These recurring visual elements reference the body as a container of memory, and the vessel as both a literal and metaphorical carrier of human experience. Each work features two figures, suggesting an ongoing relationship between the individual and something enduring - memory, love, and a sense of recognition across time.

My own body plays an active role in the making process - as a physical tool, a point of sensitivity, and a conduit for intuitive connection. This collection approaches excavation as an act of care: a slow, attentive method of uncovering what remains. The paintings consider how emotional and historical traces persist - within the earth, within objects, and within us - and how the act of retrieving them can deepen our understanding of the present.

— Kalli Bednarz