Trauma Porn

“Brutal Honesty”, “Formal Moral”, “Generational Trauma”: these are some of the slogans Gvantsa Jish­kariani embroiders on her works. They also describe the special aura sur­roun­ding her art. Jish­kariani, who was born the same year that Geo­r­gia regained its indepen­dence, can indeed be brutally honest, and she does com­bine for­malism with morality, but generational traumas are also reflec­ted in her works. The star­ting material for these pieces is the decorative tapestries that were popular in the Soviet Union, which the artist decon­structs and proces­ses by applying embroidered mottos. The lan­guage she uses, bor­dering on parody, is a mixture of political ban­ners, academic jargon, and notes from therapy ses­sions. By juxtaposing post-​Soviet material cul­ture with the new­speak of Global English, Jish­kariani creates unique, artisanal objects—captivating souvenirs of our con­tem­porary political apocalypse.