Marginalia is a series dedicated to artworks that were not accepted by the public and critics at the moment of their appearance, but over time became iconic and entered the history of art. At the center of my interest are not only the artworks themselves, but also the history of their rejection as recorded in contemporary critical texts.

The work on the series is structured as a research process. I select a specific artwork and turn to archival criticism that documents sharp, often aggressive statements, misunderstanding, or outright rejection. A graphic sketch of the artwork and a fragment of the most severe critical text form the basis of the tattoo design.

These tattoos are executed on SCOBY leather — a cellulose biofilm formed through the fermentation of a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. I cultivate and process the material myself. Pigment is inserted directly into the organic surface, bringing the work closer to the bodily practice of tattooing and emphasizing the physical presence of the image.

The use of tattooing as a medium is fundamental to the Marginalia series. Tattooing has historically existed on the boundary between the marginal and the institutional: for a long time it remained outside the artistic canon while simultaneously functioning as a stable form of visual expression. Introducing tattooing into the field of contemporary art allows me to address rejection not only on the level of subject matter, but also on the level of form.

SCOBY leather visually and tactually resembles human skin, which intensifies the sense of vulnerability and bodily presence. In this context, stories of criticism and rejection cease to be abstract and are perceived as experiences that can literally be “felt on the skin.” In this way, the history of art is shifted from a distanced intellectual field into a space of physical and emotional perception.

Central to the series is the idea of the artist’s vulnerability to criticism as a universal experience. Regardless of time, country, or cultural context, the artist finds herself in a situation of evaluation and the risk of rejection. The histories of works that were not accepted at the moment of their appearance but were later recognized and canonized form a shared space of solidarity and mutual understanding.

In the Marginalia series, marginality is understood not as deviation or exclusion, but as a temporary and productive state. Over time, it is capable of transforming not only the fate of an individual artwork, but the artistic field itself, shifting the boundaries of what is considered acceptable, significant, and valuable in art.