assemblage, soap, paper, 25 × 25 cm

purchased in 2023

Who doesn't know the "soap with a deer" – a laundry product first produced in 1848? It became so popular that its name turned into a generic term, and any core soap came to be called "soap with a deer". It accompanied many generations and peeked out from many wardrobes. It became a symbol of home, a kind of domestic treasure carefully kept by housewives.

Behind these particular bars of soap, transferred into a box assemblage as a kind of fetish, lies a personal story. It is linked to the arrival of the occupying troops in 1968. The artist's grandmother, with her last savings, went out to buy two essential items: salt and "soap with a deer". The soap remained hidden in the attic until today.

Translation created with the assistance of AI (ChatGPT).