collection master class 2025
A Theory of the Contemporary Self
MetaSelf can be interpreted as a theory for expressing the personal self through global cultural archetypes. It suggests that contemporary identity is formed through the interaction between one’s internal self-perception and external cultural influences.
Global Archetypes and Personal Identity
In the MetaSelf concept, archetypes such as the Gorgon, the Amazon, the Fox, and Aphrodite represent different aspects of feminine power and aesthetics. Through them, MetaSelf expresses that personal identity is composed of multiple layers, each reflecting a specific cultural or mythological symbolism.
The Inner Self and Cultural Accumulations
MetaSelf emphasizes that the inner self does not exist in isolation but results from accumulations of cultural, social, and personal experiences. This corresponds to self-concept in psychology, which views self-perception as a dynamic and multilayered structure, influenced by both internal and external factors.
What is Essence?
Essence is what remains when everything external falls away.
It is what cannot be stolen, replicated, or imitated.
It is not a fixed point but a pulsating core.
Essence is neither image, nor idea, nor function — it is a lived feeling, an inner memory, an invisible record of everything you have been and everything you can become.
THE ARCHETYPES
- The Gorgon, the Amazon, the Fox, and Aphrodite are not merely myths; they are projections of inner energies, emotions, fears, and powers experienced by people in every era.
- In the aesthetics of MetaSelf, essence is that mythological thread that has survived through the millennia — the archetypes. They are expressions of the essences through which humanity has told its stories about itself.
WHAT IS ORIGINAL
- In a world where everything is an image, your essence is the last remaining truth.
- And it is not stable. It is alive. It is created every day through new and new “faces” and stories.
- Clothes are disassembled, gathered, and reassembled. They are a metaphor for the disintegration of identities and the playful assembly of a new wholeness. They leave no imprint because the true essence can never be fully captured. METASELF does not offer answers but raises some questions.
“MetaSelf is my journey into myself — through archetypes, traumas and doubt, to the light, where every garment becomes a mantle — a shell that carries inner meaning and reflects external manifestations..”
ANTONIA TOCHKA
DESIGNER