Home Canning

«Homemade Preserves» is a series of objects where ordinary jars with handmade labels become an ironic and slightly melancholic portrait of a person. Each jar contains a «preserve» of emotions, states, and life circumstances—ranging from «Enemies' Blood. Self-Extraction» to «Warmth. Homegrown. Keep in Your Heart.» The project explores the habit of saving everything «for later”—and how the stores in our souls are filled with provisions we didn’t always choose.

At the core of the project is the metaphor of home canning as a model for life itself. The jar with a twist-off lid symbolizes the Soviet and nostalgic daily life: reserves that we carefully place on the shelf «for later, ” as if we could preserve time, feelings, and experience. Some jars we place intentionally—like the Warmth we wish to keep in our hearts, no matter what. Others appear against our will: Anxiety, Regret, Nerves. Certain things are inextricably part of our routine, and then they subtly lose their expiration date—like a Vacation whose „shelf life has expired.“ We don’t always want to preserve these states, but they nonetheless take up space on the shelves of our soul.

The project was executed using high-relief printing with elements of hand-replication. The text on the labels was printed on self-adhesive paper and applied to glass jars. A pre-made stamp was used to set the individual letters—each label was assembled by hand, letter by letter.