Safety First is an ongoing artistic research project developed through painting, installation, and spatial arrangements. It investigates “safety” as an affective, psychological and mnemonic construct. Navigate the complete installation file through the links below.
a physical archive of anxiety
This project is an extended inquiry into the elusive nature of security and comfort in contemporary society. Designed as a “chaotic cage” to preserve unsettling emotional contents, the installation charts the struggle of imposing a rational grid onto the fluid psyche. Using reclaimed domestic fabric (recycled sheets) as a primary substrate, each painting becomes a physical archive of emotional vulnerability, extended into space through over 150 assemblage art black spheres. The viewer is invited to navigate a topography of internal landscapes and “failed schematics” of memory and to build their own escape route away from anxiety.
OVERVIEW
INSTALLATION | PAINTING | ASSEMBLAGE | MODULAR | EVER-EVOLVING
Curatorial Text
“Safety First!” is an extended concern about the elusive nature of security, comfort, and well-being. You are expected to navigate the topography of internal landscapes in the search for an emotional and fluid safe space, a concept used a lot in contemporary society. We all want a safe space; we are told we need it to thrive, to heal, to rest, and to decompress from everyday stressors. This is NOT the safe space you are about to meet today. Safety First! is an installation designed to make you encounter the poetic and painful paradoxes of feeling safe, that quiet disquiet that may reside within moments presumed to be secure. It aimes to chart the unchartable of imposing a rational grid onto the fluid psyche in its struggle to avoid disconfort, pain or loss. This very process becomes the central theme, revealing our human, messy and inherent limitations. The collection of forms within the exhibition— the tactile spheres, each a unique testament to states of isolation and the complexities of protection, to the layered surfaces that diagram repetitive internal gestures and the “failed schematics” of memory—serves as a tangible manifestation of a deeply felt process. Born from direct experience, they distill the raw essence of anxiety and the constant negotiation between vulnerability and resilience into a language of form, texture, and encourage immersive engagement, prompting the viewer to consider the architecture of their own perceived boundaries and interplay between control and fluidity. “Safety First!” ultimately becomes a mirror, reflecting the complexities of the human condition back to the contemplating observer, inviting a quiet introspection into their definitions of safety.
Structure
Using reclaimed domestic fabric (recycled sheets) as a primary substrate, each painting becomes a physical archive of time, marked by multiple layers of erosion, schematics, and conceptual inscriptions. The paintings are extended into space through the over 150 black assemblage art spheres. The whole visual structure serves as a “chaotic cage” designed to preserve unsettling emotional contents.
Exhibitions + Curatorial Text
In 2025, Safety First was on view at DalgART Craiova and at Calea Victoriei 91-93 Gallery, Bucharest.
The artist continues to update it by adding new pieces that recreate a new anxiety proposition with each new space and display.
roxana DONALDSON 