The goal of my article is to cover the opening of the exhibition «Herbarium of Feelings» and explore how the artist uses floral imagery to articulate female experiences. I attended the vernissage, gathered comments from the artist, the curator, and guests, described the exhibition and its concept. As a result, I created a news piece complete with reportage details, direct quotes from event participants, and photographs.
A «Herbarium of Feelings» exhibition, exploring the inner world of women, has opened in Saint Petersburg.
On October 6th, in the white hall of Petersburg’s «Rekord,» human emotions were transformed into a herbarium. Artist Ksenia Kopteva and curator Ulyana Morozova opened the exhibition «Herbarium of Feelings, ” where a woman’s inner world and daily experiences are presented through floral imagery. According to the organizers, the vernissage drew about 150 people. The exhibition was enhanced with flowers handcrafted by the event organizers. At the vernissage, the curator and the artist gave welcome speeches, and afterward, together they told the guests, „Hooray, we did it!“ and officially opened the exhibition. One distinctive element of the evening was the participation of the visitors themselves in creating the art space. In the announcement the organizers published on social media, they had asked guests in advance to bring a flower associated with their state of mind on the opening day. Later, participants recorded videos explaining why they chose that specific flower and what emotions it evokes in them. After the opening, guests could socialize with the artist and curator and discuss the pieces they admired. According to Ulyana Morozova, working on the exhibition turned out to be not only a professional but also a personal experience for her. „It was literally an herbarium of feelings, ” she told a correspondent. The curator shared that during the preparation of the project, she herself was going through significant life events and partly reinterpreted them through the exhibition’s concept.
«Curatorial work has a rather therapeutic quality. We worked very closely with the artist Ksenia Kopteva, and it was an incredible experience, ” noted Morozova. According to her, one of the project’s goals was to give the viewer a chance to pause briefly and experience their own emotions. The exhibition space was designed as a safe place for self-reflection. This was intended to be aided not only by the artwork but also by the soundscape—pink noise, a sound in which energy is evenly distributed across octaves, helping to induce relaxation.
The concept of „Herbarium of Feelings“ is based on the metaphor of flowers. In her curatorial text, Ulyana Morozova writes that people do not always manage to express their experiences directly, so they turn to metaphors. One such metaphor was floriography—the language of flowers, in which plants are imbued with specific meanings. The project title also references the principle of preserving experiences. She notes there that a real herbarium preserves the plant but alters its appearance: the flower dries out, becomes fragile, and deforms. A similar process happens with memories—over time, pain can lose its intensity, and familiar feelings can take on new shades.
The exhibition features seven pieces by Ksenia Kopteva, created using acrylic and airbrush. On the canvases, female portraits merge with floral imagery. In the works „I Don’t See“ and „I Don’t Hear, ” flowers surround the female faces and figures, partially obscuring them and as if hiding the heroines from the outside world. Shades of pink, blue, and green blend into one another, emphasizing the fragility of the depicted states.
For Ksenia Kopteva, the opening day proved to be emotionally charged. «My exhibition is an outpouring of various feelings and emotions, ” the artist shared in an interview. She admitted that she was afraid before the event that her work might not meet the visitors' expectations. „I was very worried, very nervous. When there were literally five minutes left before letting people in, I was also extremely anxious, ” Kopteva told the correspondent. According to her, despite the apprehension, everything ultimately turned out as it should have. One visitor, Polina Burdastrova, shared that her acquaintance with Kopteva’s work began even before they met in person. She said that the artist’s video had once inspired her to pursue a creative major. „I am very impressed and inspired by her perseverance and versatility, and this exhibition is proof of how talented and hardworking Ksyusha is, ” Burdastrova noted. The exhibition „Herbarium of Feelings“ will run until November 1st. It can be visited on weekdays from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the „Record“ space (Sadovaya Street, 55–57); admission is free.
