Embroidered Sideway Cross – contemporary artwork on canvas

The image titled The Embroidered Sideway Cross evokes the faith experienced in the daily lives of ordinary people and the quiet spirituality of rural life. The figure of Christ in the center appears without a cross, and the fingers of his outstretched arms are linked by floral embroidery. These botanical forms become threads connecting humanity to nature, and the material world to the sacred.

For centuries, people perceived God’s presence and providence in the forces of nature. Tin figures of Christ standing by the roadside or at the edge of fields, small home altars, and flower-adorned holy images bore witness to the personal faith of ordinary people. Their belief was deeply intertwined with the cycles of nature, daily labor, and the hope for a bountiful harvest.

I spent the summers of my childhood in my grandmother’s village, where I early on experienced a deep, instinctive connection to nature. For me, village life was synonymous with a sense of freedom: bathing in the stream, wandering through the fields, and living in harmony with the rhythm of the landscape.

The daily lives of the villagers were closely linked to the cycles of nature. Physical labor, caring for animals, and tending the vegetable garden were natural, integral parts of life. At the same time, I was deeply moved by the quiet spirituality of rural existence—the roadside tin Christs, the home altars, and the direct, guileless faith of the local people. In the *Collective Heritage* series, I revisit these early experiences and shared visual memories. I combine folk embroidery motifs with personal recollections and religious symbols, exploring how our connections to nature, faith, and the generations that came before us live on within us.

The Embroidered Sideway Cross was created using linocut printed on embroidered canvas, and gold paint. The boldness of the black line drawing, the cheerful colors of the floral motifs, and the golden background simultaneously evoke the directness of folk art and the radiance of sacred imagery.