You Need a Lover
Text, stitching with teddy bears on fabric, 172x150 cm 2020-2025, © Kavachi. ongoing
Exhibition view, 2025 "A Lover`s Discourse" at AURA Kunstraum, Düsseldorf, DE
Photo by Johannes Bendzulla
You Need a Lover is a textile work made from small teddy bears stitched to form letters. Teddy bears keep appearing in the artist’s practice because they hold personal, emotional, and queer meaning. As a child, the artist once played with his sister’s Barbie. When his father saw him with it, he became angry and forbade him from touching it again. Not long after, his grandfather gave him a large teddy bear, which became a constant companion. Although he did not understand it at the time, the bear offered a form of protection and care that the artist’s queer childhood self needed. Culturally, the bear is often associated with masculinity — big, hairy, solid — and it became both a shield and an ally against the patriarchy he was growing up in. By using teddy bears as material, the artist transforms this childhood-associated object into a form of queer storytelling. Their soft bodies become words and phrases, creating a playful way to build a shared language of desire and belonging.
Text, stitching with teddy bears on fabric, 172x150 cm 2020-2025, © Kavachi. ongoing
Exhibition view, 2025 "A Lover`s Discourse" at AURA Kunstraum, Düsseldorf, DE
Photo by Johannes Bendzulla
You Need a Lover is a textile work made from small teddy bears stitched to form letters. Teddy bears keep appearing in the artist’s practice because they hold personal, emotional, and queer meaning. As a child, the artist once played with his sister’s Barbie. When his father saw him with it, he became angry and forbade him from touching it again. Not long after, his grandfather gave him a large teddy bear, which became a constant companion. Although he did not understand it at the time, the bear offered a form of protection and care that the artist’s queer childhood self needed. Culturally, the bear is often associated with masculinity — big, hairy, solid — and it became both a shield and an ally against the patriarchy he was growing up in. By using teddy bears as material, the artist transforms this childhood-associated object into a form of queer storytelling. Their soft bodies become words and phrases, creating a playful way to build a shared language of desire and belonging.
You Need a Lover
Text, stitching with teddy bears on fabric, 101x85 cm 2020, © Kavachi.
Solo Exhibition view, 2024 “The Wind Is Whispering in My Ears Flying Butterflies Around and The Moon Is Eating Peaches Embracing Each Other Like Mountains” at Künstlerhaus Sootbörn Hamburg DE
Photo by Michael Zarske
Text, stitching with teddy bears on fabric, 101x85 cm 2020, © Kavachi.
Solo Exhibition view, 2024 “The Wind Is Whispering in My Ears Flying Butterflies Around and The Moon Is Eating Peaches Embracing Each Other Like Mountains” at Künstlerhaus Sootbörn Hamburg DE
Photo by Michael Zarske
You Need a Lover
Text, stitching with teddy bears on fabric, 101x85 cm 2020, © Kavachi.
Exhibition view 2021 "The 6th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Thinking Hands Touching Each Other"
Photo by Anya Marchenkova
Text, stitching with teddy bears on fabric, 101x85 cm 2020, © Kavachi.
Exhibition view 2021 "The 6th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Thinking Hands Touching Each Other"
Photo by Anya Marchenkova