Photo reportage from the exhibition 'Breathwork' by Inga Meldere at Pech in Vienna

Anything covered is always interesting. There is never nothing beneath. Imagination, no matter the circumstances, fills the void, constantly at work, seeping into every fissure.

Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Your abdomen should expand, and your chest should rise very little. Beneath the white layer of paint on the walls lie images and patterns that bridge the worlds of the past and the affections of the present.

Exhale. At some point, people believed that the breath of life entered the body through the right ear while the breath of death entered through the left. Later explana – tions described breathing as drawing air into the lungs, fuel – ing the heart like a combustion engine, a chemical reaction that reacts rapidly with oxygen and releases energy in the form of heat, soul, light, and carbon dioxide, removing sooty and fuliginous spirits from the body

Inhale. Galen, the physician of Marcus Aurelius, was concerned with the conflicting requirements for the heart and lungs to generate innate heat. Just like a fire, the heart would extinguish without air. A delicate balance was necessary between fanning the source of the heat and cooling it in due proportion.

Completely exhale through your mouth, making a “whoosh!” sound. Place and keep the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth. Gruff and grimy waste products are discharged from the lungs through the blood. The squalid materials lift off and diffuse in the ether once the breath is pushed out of the body.

Breathe normally for a few moments, then begin the pattern anew.

Inga Meldere
Breathwork
June 29 – August 10, 2024
Pech, Große Neugasse 44/2, 1040 Wien

Photographer: Flavio Palasciano

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Inga Meldere, Nectars, 2023, Oil on paper 29.5 x 40.5 cm

Inga Meldere, Bad Star, 2024, Oil on paper 41.5 x 29.6 cm

Inga Meldere, Bad Star, 2024, Oil on paper 41.5 x 29.6 cm

Inga Meldere, The Study of Palm, 2024 Oil on paper 41.5 x 29.6 cm

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Exhibition view

Inga Meldere, Bad Hearing, 2024 Oil on paper 29.6 x 41.5 cm

Inga Meldere, Triangle, 2024 Oil on paper 29.6 x 41.5 cm

Exhibition view

30 Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

30 Inga Meldere, Breathwork, 2024, various dimensions

Exhibition view

Inga Meldere, Dolphins and the Light, 2024, Oil on paper 29.6 x 41.5 cm