The Migraine series consists of 38 paintings in three different formats. Each format can be seen as representing a single “year” or a reissue of older editions. What remains essential, however, is the idea of multiplicity, which conveys a sense of constant repetition—the “eternal return of the same.” The central motif, repeated in a regular arrangement within the gallery space, evokes the organized shelves of a library, where edited volumes are stacked in horizontal rows. Through an empathetic lens, Houdek’s Migraine series can be interpreted as an expansive personal “library of pain,” whose existence is evident but remains concealed behind its individual covers for those who have not experienced it.

If there is any teleology to pain, its meaning may not lie in the individual’s inner journey, but rather in its collective acceptance. It is through the shared acknowledgment of each other’s pain that we can build genuine intimacy.

—Excerpt from the original curatorial text from NoD Gallery by Pavel Kubesa