Jozef Bajus, “Everything Stays”

Whatever we do, we leave footprints for the next generation. Our society is built on the consumption of products and services, often with little consideration of the environmental impact. Despite encouragement to reduce, reuse, and recycle, most household waste and production scraps still end up in landfills. The truth is, nothing truly disappears and everything stays, perhaps in a slightly different form, but still present.

For Everything Stays, Bajus intended to reimagine studio materials collected over the past 20 years, however, the direction of the exhibition shifted following a personal loss. Bajus’s father, a highly skilled and respected tailor in Slovakia, passed away during the preparation for this exhibition. His father’s craftsmanship had a profound influence on Bajus’s artistic journey, and after his passing, Bajus spent time in his father’s workshop. 

As a young boy I used to play in my dad’s workshop. The magical world of multi-colored threads and fabrics filled with the smell of ironing, the droning engine of a sewing machine … for me this environment was both interesting and natural. I remember pins in unfinished sewing or basting stitches in semi-finished jackets or coats. I remember the contrast of white stitches on linen and on shiny lining cloth that, under my father’s hands, took the form of a pad, a pocket or a collar. I was interested in removing stitches and my father was glad to entrust me with this petty, yet important work. 

After his father’s passing, Bajus found himself sitting by the sewing machine, surrounded by unfinished work. He encountered zippers, buttons, threads, pins, needles, and fabric scraps patiently waiting for transformation. Unable to leave these relics in Slovakia, Bajus brought many of these materials back to his studio in Western New York, incorporating them into his new work as a tribute to his father’s artistry and legacy.

Additional materials also found their way into the exhibition through the closing of a friend’s clothing store on Allen Street. She invited Bajus to take whatever remained—boxes of hangers, fabrics, and other supplies. These remnants, combined with the items from his father’s shop, created a natural and meaningful connection.

Everything Stays not only memorializes Bajus’s father, but also the work of making and the creativity of the maker. By uniting these materials, Bajus highlights both personal memory and collective responsibility. His hope is that viewers will experience the poetic transformation of discarded objects and, in doing so, recognize the power of reuse, and the creative potential in the remnants of our lives.

Press Release available here.

September 2025 Fourth Friday photos available here. Photos by Nilson Rivera Photography.

Part of Unruly Spaces.