Zsófia Keresztes

König Telegraphenamt is pleased to present The Chamomile Protocol, a solo exhibition by Hungarian artist Zsófia Keresztes, her second with the gallery. Known internationally for her sensuous, mosaic-covered sculptures combined with soft textiles, Keresztes explores identity, transformation, and interconnectedness. This new body of work deepens her investigation into how bodies and relationships function as coded systems, both tender and exacting, changing yet bound by invisible rules.

The exhibition presents the body and human relationships not only as physical presence but as a network of encoded patterns. These patterns act like secret algorithms shaping how we care, attach, and negotiate intimacy and control. Transformation here is a slow, recursive process where every gesture of connection carries both nourishment and constraint.

Keresztes's signature interplay of materials makes these dynamics tangible. Cold, glimmering glass mosaics recall cellular structures or anatomical cross-sections, while checkered fabric evokes domestic rituals and tactile memory. The works oscillate between diagram and dream as scientific models seem to sprout organs, tongues, and petals that breathe and twist within the gallery space.

Chamomile, a symbol of healing and calm, runs throughout the exhibition as both metaphor and strategy. It is not simply a plant but a fragile architecture that holds us together. Chamomile soothes, yet its gentleness relies on a precise internal mechanism, a protocol balancing softness with structure. This tension between release and form pulses beneath the works, pulling them into states of suspension.

Throughout the exhibition, forms suggest bodies in metamorphosis, structures that are at once protective and confining, organs that reach beyond themselves to touch others, and patterns that fold and collapse into new shapes. At the same time, these works evoke collective anatomies shaped by inherited memory, hormonal rhythms, and cultural expectations. Care emerges not only as kindness but as a complex, coded practice that structures, limits, and reshapes the self.

The Chamomile Protocol transforms König Telegraphenamt into an imagined interior where tenderness intertwines with tension, and transformation is ongoing but never complete.

Zsófia Keresztes (b. 1985 in Budapest) lives and works in Budapest. She studied at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. In her recent works Keresztes's sculptural practice navigates the complex intersections of the female body, nature, and emotional labor. Her works merge anatomical forms with organic elements like roots, trunks, and cocoons, incorporating mosaic and stained textiles to evoke both strength and fragility. Through subtle gestures of self-examination and self-devouring, she explores the silent mechanics of support, forms of dependency and attachment, and the ongoing deterioration of natural systems.