In her works, selected for ‘Found in Jersey. Made in Jersey, Yulia uses the sentimental value and power of the found objects to materialize the fleeting memories of the past. Her sculptures can be and should be experienced through touch.
a Reflection
I remember my paternal grandmother’s dressing table.
A jewellery box, red lipstick, a compact
with an unnaturally pink pressed powder.
Precious perfume bottles, caps loose,
all scents mixed in one, and me frozen
in that heady veil of intrigue.
I remember my maternal grandmother’s wardrobe,
and her sewing on an old Zinger
with an electric motor fitted on.
The folding door used as a modesty screen
to try the finished dress on, and me
touching a pale peach slip folded over the chair.
I remember a vintage car at a fair,
glossy black, shiny chrome. A cabrio,
upholstered in a cream moiré silk.
A tiny golden mirror above the passenger’s seat.
My dream that night – a reflection of Valentina,
fixing her chignon hastily, smiling to Nadezhda.
Wheels catching fire.
Yulia Makeyeva, 2022
narrated by Traci O’Dea