Aftertaste by Katya Reka

Sculptural book Aftertaste explores the notion of pain as a unifying human factor. Our ability to feel the pain of others makes us human. But when in pain, our pain becomes the center of our world. Pain is the most isolating experience for an individual—when you are left to face the weakness of the body and mind.

This book is constructed of 'pages' cast as tea cups from cotton and studded with cactus and metal needles. The 'pages' are bound with a thread, gently held together. Soft, inviting tea cups are contrasted with sharp, repelling needles. The ritual of transforming and transmuting pain into objects is a process that mirrors the human experience of suffering and healing. Each page is a meditation on the act of creation—turning something delicate and comforting into something sharp and challenging.

The act of casting, stitching, and binding mirrors the process of internalizing pain and confronting its presence in our lives. The ritual of handling the tea cups, carefully placing each page in its place, becomes a metaphor for navigating the rawness of vulnerability, while the sharpness of the needles symbolizes the need to endure or be altered by what we face. In this way, the book becomes not only an object to be viewed but a process to be experienced, each interaction with it a step in the ongoing journey of confronting, embracing, and transforming pain.