Angstea is a series of work developed as an attempt to self-cure the maker’s insomnia outside of the access to conventional mental healthcare.
Initially it consisted of five pillows filled with lavender and buckwheat, and a bedtime tea with custom labels. The pillows are claimed to be a tool for relaxation, according to sources such as sponsored posts and podcasts; a potential supplementary cure for insomnia –a state when naïve but gut-wrenching thoughts: existential, anxious, political, but also romance or life-admin related annoyingly receive the same kind of validity in one’s mind.
In 2024 seven sleeping masks filled with lavender and rice were added. Due to allergies (developed as a self-diagnosed immune response to night shift work), buckwheat had to be replaced by rice. All of the objects were later used in “Sleepover for Insomniacs” - an overnight stay in the gallery, where participants were invited to unapologetically be unable to fall asleep together. The “Sleepover” featured a sleep inducing program:cinema screening, affect theory reading and a relaxing drawing workshop (the latter hosted by Nadine Ghandour).
Have a sip of tea, release the tension with a pillow, try to find ease, make sense of things and hope for the best.
