The skin, as a sensitive and vulnerable surface, simultaneously delineates and connects; it not only defines the contours of the body but also bears the imprints of continuous interaction with the external world. Every abrasion, every pigment spot, discoloration, and injury carries the marks and memories of exposure to the outside world and to others. In this way, the skin's surface becomes a sensual archive, preserving time and experience in both tactile and affective forms. The reddish contours of sunburns and the outlines drawn by swimwear evoke a sultry, summery lightness while imbuing the image with a muted melancholy. In compositions depicting multiple figures, the fragmented bodies stretch toward one another, seemingly seeking the possibility of interconnection, yet their movements do not lead to true contact. Skin, as a thin, soft sheath, not only protects but also encloses, as though the figures, confined within their membranous boundaries, can only brush against one another without ever truly penetrating the proximity of the other. The desire for touch weaves a subtle tension throughout the series. In Szenteleki's works, skin is not merely portrayed as a meticulously detailed surface reminiscent of naturalistic representation but also functions as an abstract field of color, a haptic texture. It serves as a sensual bearer of traces, attuning the viewer to the experience of touch through visuality. These same organic, sensual qualities are present in the geometric archetypal forms evoking the concept of the house, where the painted surfaces appear almost like organic plaster, evoking contradictory associations of homeliness, protection, and vulnerability.

Dániel Sallay's works approach our relationship with nature, material, and form through abstract sculptural means. The exhibited pieces are connected to the four seasons—not in an illustrative way but rather as abstract, sculptural representations of the cyclical nature of time and natural changes. Wood, as an organic material, embodies the cycles of formation, growth, and decay. The carved forms can be interpreted as living organisms, plant-like structures, or some unknown, organ-like entities, while also bearing anthropomorphic formal associations. The sculptures function not as closed, complete structures but as open compositions—shapes that are in constant motion, continually extending beyond themselves. Their incompleteness or fragmentary nature is not perceived as a deficiency but as a possibility. The forms exist in various phases of unfolding, development, expansion, or even decay. Here, proliferation is not merely a formal characteristic but also a biological and temporal-associative quality, alluding to the cyclical processes of growth, decay, decline, and rebirth. In this sense, the sculptures are open entities not only in space but also in time. Much like living beings, they evoke developmental stages, while following the internal logic of nature as they expand, branch out, decompose, or gradually retreat back into the material. These organic forms, poised on the boundary between nature and the body, remind us of the temporality and vulnerability of material existence. They highlight the temporal dimension inherent in material, the mutability of form, and the fragile balance that defines the existence of all living and non-living things. Instead of the illusion of permanence, the works carry the notion of constant transformation—a state where things are no longer completely formless but have not yet fully solidified.

The exhibited works resonate with each other in an attempt to explore and capture the boundaries of the body, organic forms, and nature. In the works of Gábor Szenteleki and Dániel Sallay, softness is not merely a material quality or formal characteristic but a metaphor for change, exposure, and fragility. The "soft things" evoke not only sensuality or the proximity of the bodily and the natural but also the ways in which the body and matter transform under the influence of environmental and internal processes. The exhibiting artists do not work with completed or closed forms; instead, they investigate shapes of change, vulnerability, growth, and fragmentation.

Zsófia Máté