Jana
I am flicking through a tattered newspaper from 1909 and thinking of the woman who kept the supplement with instructions for needlework in a black folder in an old cabinet in the attic. She redrew the monogram designs and embroidery patterns in ink on translucent paper and included them in the scrapbook collection. I can imagine her sitting by the window, by our small window, embroidering her daughter’s trousseau or knitting baby slippers. I am thinking of the unknown woman who embroidered beautiful pictures, and yet she had no idea what horrors of the twentieth century awaited her. I am thinking of her and wishing her that the moment of peace and concentrated work on something nice would last as long as possible. At the same time I feel an unusual affinity with her. I pour epoxy resin on the newspaper, trying to preserve the memory. It becomes translucent, but the contours remain, and the patterns overlap...
—J. M.