Cabinet of Memories – Vintage Nostalgia Art Postcard | Maralkunst

Collection Description

Fragments of Nostalgia is a collection of small visual stories created from forgotten objects, vintage treasures, childhood memories, and pieces that might otherwise have been left behind.

For years, I have been drawn to flea markets, second-hand shops, old boxes, forgotten corners, and objects that once belonged to another time.

I often see beauty and meaning in things that others may overlook.

A tiny charm.
An old photograph.
A broken piece.
A childhood object.
Something that may look worthless to someone else, but still carries a memory.

I believe these forgotten pieces have a soul.

Instead of allowing them to disappear, I collect them and bring them together in new compositions, giving them another place, another purpose, and another story.

Each work in Fragments of Nostalgia is created as a 10 × 15 cm postcard composition.

But these are more than postcards.

They are small archives of memory.

When you look at one, you may recognize something from your own life—a person, a place, a journey, your childhood, someone you loved, or a moment you had almost forgotten.

There is no single story you are expected to see.

The story begins with the objects, but it becomes yours when you connect with them.

I hope each piece awakens something familiar inside you.

A memory.
A feeling.
A history.
A quiet smile.

Maral’s Statement

I have always felt a soul in forgotten things.

I cannot easily leave behind objects that have been abandoned or forgotten.

Whenever I visit flea markets and second-hand shops, I find myself searching through the smallest things, wondering where they came from, who once owned them, what they witnessed, and why they were eventually left behind.

I feel the same way about objects connected to my childhood.

Something that may look like rubbish to another person can hold an entire world for me.

It can carry the memory of a home, a person, a smell, a journey, a particular time in life, or simply a feeling that cannot be explained.

That is how Fragments of Nostalgia began.

I started collecting these small forgotten treasures and placing them together, allowing them to communicate with one another and create a new visual story.

I do not want to tell the viewer exactly what that story is.

I want you to find your own memory within it.

Perhaps one object reminds you of your grandmother.

Another takes you back to your childhood room.

A tiny camera may remind you of a journey.

A cassette may bring back a song.

A shell may return you to a summer you thought you had forgotten.

And suddenly, an object that belonged to no one becomes connected to you.

That moment of recognition is what interests me most.

Fragments of Nostalgia is about giving forgotten things another life—and allowing them to awaken forgotten stories within us.

Maral Jafarian
Artist
@maralpaint

Artwork Details

Collection: Fragments of Nostalgia
Artist: Maral Jafarian
Format: Postcard Art Collection
Size: 10 × 15 cm
Original concept and composition: Maral Jafarian
Instagram: @maralpaint

Each postcard in the collection has its own individual title and story.