Stella Koleszar

Spring is a period of natural rebirth, which in folk tradition meant not only the renewal of the landscape but also the revitalization of human communities. Especially for young people, it brought a time of courtship, choosing a partner, and new beginnings. Stella Koleszár's works were inspired by the closing line of a folk song about choosing a suitor: "...so that I don't pick weeds instead of flowers." The motif of the flower in folklore, folk songs, literature, and cinema carries a rich, layered system of meanings: it is a code for love and desire, a symbol of femininity and fertility, and a metaphor for transformation and decision. In Stella's works, this "language of flowers" is reactivated, yet it also shifts away from traditional interpretations: behind the light, spring freshness, layers of oppression and control subtly emerge. The visual world of the collages connects to the aesthetic of the 60s and 70s. The artist builds upon colorful photographs from contemporary *Nők Lapja* magazines, which she combines with montage techniques in her new works. However, the evocation of the era is not merely an aesthetic choice. In 1970s Hungary, the turn towards folk songs and folk art — with the unfolding of the táncház (dance house) movement — was a grassroots, community-organized initiative that offered an authentic form of moderation, self-expression, and community building, in contrast to the artificial, theatrical "state folk dance" of previous decades. For Stella, this repertoire of motifs remains alive and inexhaustible today: its rich symbolism can be particularly relevant in the current, increasingly isolated social situation.