Sarasota Art Museum presents immersive solo exhibition asking visitors to investigate profound questions about life, change and permanent impermanence

Award-winning artist Eszter Sziksz constructs new interactive installation encouraging a reflective search for meaning over answers

Magnifying glasses hanging with vellum pieces of paper
Eszter Sziksz (Hungarian, b. 1976). Seeking (detail), 2026.
Debossed wax paper and magnifying glasses, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Allegra Bortoni.

Sarasota, Fla. — Opening October 18, 2026, Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design will debut “Eszter Sziksz: Seeking, I Don’t Know What I’m Looking For (And I Hope I Never Find It).” Curated by Lacie Barbour, curator of modern and contemporary art at Sarasota Art Museum, this highly interactive solo exhibition invites visitors to navigate an ethereal environment built on philosophical inquiry, tactile exploration and the ever-present potential for abrupt change. “Seeking” marks Sziksz’s first solo museum exhibition and runs through April 4, 2027.

An internationally exhibited artist and Ringling College of Art and Design faculty member, Sziksz will transform SAM’s second floor B. Claire Rusen Gallery with her meditative, cascading installation for six months. Dozens of long, delicate ribbons of semi-translucent wax paper will hover around visitors’ heads suspended from the Museum’s ceiling. At the base of each paper strand, Sziksz utilizes inkless embossing to press profound philosophical questions inspired by great thinkers—including Plato, Jacques Derrida, Albert Camus and Martin Heidegger. To reveal these latent, blind-stamped messages, visitors must actively engage with the environment, using magnifying glasses hung throughout the gallery to read the text up close. An accompanying sound component titled “Let Them Twist in the Wind,” composed by multi-media artist Douglas Tewksbury, will offer another layer of entrancing immersion for visitors.
Hand showing text hidden on piece of vellum
Eszter Sziksz (Hungarian, b. 1976). Seeking (detail), 2026.
Debossed wax paper and magnifying glasses, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Allegra Bortoni.

For Sziksz, the inspiration for this conceptual work is highly personal.

 

“‘Seeking’ was created after a close friend was diagnosed with cancer,” explained the artist. “That was a moment that overturned my sense of what truly matters and what does not. The project grew out of a personal need to search for meaning rather than answers.” Sziksz turned towards thinkers who grappled with ideas of existence and uncertainty across cultures and throughout history, distilling their ideas and printing them as open-ended questions.

“Sziksz’s work is beautifully fulfilled through audience curiosity and participation. By simply posing a series of questions, the artist takes a step back to see how visitors’ thoughtful reflections complete the work, turning it into a living, breathing encounter,” shared Lacie Barbour, curator of modern and contemporary art. “By stripping away ink and applying letters only through pressure, the impressions left on the malleable wax paper urge us to look closely and think deeply. ‘Seeking’ is an invitation to embrace the beauty of the search itself and to find wonder in the questions that remain unanswered.”
People using magnifying glasses to view words hidden within vellum
Eszter Sziksz (Hungarian, b. 1976). Seeking, 2026.
Debossed wax paper and magnifying glasses, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Allegra Bortoni.

Eszter Sziksz is a Hungarian artist whose work brings together printmaking, installation, sculpture and video to explore memory, presence and human connection. Many of her projects invite participation from the audience, allowing the work to unfold through physical interaction and shared experience. She has lived and worked internationally, with projects spanning Europe, Asia and the United States.

Visitors may remember Sziksz’s work from SAM’s previous exhibition, “Skyway 2024: A Contemporary Collaboration.” The artist has also shown at the International Print Triennial in Poland (2021); the Boston Printmakers North American Print Biennial, juried by Elizabeth Rudy of the Harvard Art Museums (2023); and the upcoming “Human/Nature: Envisioning the Environment” at the Castellani Art Museum (February 26, 2026–January 23, 2027). She was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholarship in 2026.

About Sarasota Art Museum

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is the city’s only museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Founded in 2019, SAM features an ever-rotating lineup of world-class exhibitions, dynamic programs, and enriching educational offerings, and serves as a creative gathering place for curious minds from across the Gulf Coast, Southeast United States, and beyond. Housed in the historic former Sarasota High School, the Museum has revitalized and reimagined the towering landmark and architectural treasure, connecting Sarasota’s past with its present. Today, SAM is home to 15,000 square feet of gallery exhibition space, where nationally touring shows, as well as curated and commissioned exhibits by both renowned and emerging artists, deepen visitors’ appreciation for 20th- and 21st-century art. More at SarasotaArtMuseum.org