Straitjacket

Martina Soskova: Straitjacket (2026)

Straitjacket is a project exploring mental health, emotional vulnerability, and the difficult search for balance in contemporary life. The work was developed for the joint artists’ exhibition Women on the Move, Slovakia, Summer 2026.

The final work takes the form of a three-dimensional textile object, suspended in space or presented on a mannequin. I chose the form of a straitjacket as a powerful symbol of the ways we can feel restricted by our own thoughts, emotions, expectations, and the pressures of everyday life.

For me, the work is not simply about restriction. It is also about vulnerability and the quiet, often invisible effort involved in maintaining our mental wellbeing. We may appear composed on the outside while internally we are constantly trying to find balance.

Through fabric, stitching, pattern and construction, I wanted to create something that feels both protective and confining — something that reflects the complexity of living with our own minds.

The work asks us to consider what it means to feel trapped, what it means to seek freedom, and how we find ways to hold ourselves together.

Copyright © Martina Soskova MA 2026