Forgiveness and 15 roses (2025) Textile Art by Victoria Romanenko

I'm giving myself this bouquet. Fifteen roses are not for beauty, but for forgiveness. Female youth, like petals, is flawless, but fleeting. I forgive myself for inevitably changing.
War, emigration, time — they don't just through us, they leave a mark, change the gait, look, bend of the arms. They make the body an archive of loss and overcoming. A fabric stitched with chaotic lines, like leather storing a memory. Roses sprout through her like scars, like a road back that no longer exists.
This work expresses what is hidden behind the words — the moment of withdrawal from oneself, fear and courage before the inevitable. The fragility of roses does not make them weak — on the contrary, their short life exposes their strength. Similarly, women's courage is often hidden in quiet farewells, in the ability to transcend the past and allow themselves to change. I'm letting go of who I was to meet who I'm going to become. This is both a loss and a gain.

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#Textileart #Contemporarytextile #Embroidery #Handstitching #Fiberart #Textiledesign #Moderncraft #Slowstitching #Artandmemory #Fabricasarchive