Maries

July 16 - October 1st, 2016

Chapelle de l'Ortial (Ferme de Billy), Rots, FRANCE

After the exhibition Marys shown in Venice in 2015, this site-specific installation created for the Chapelle de l’Ortial, near Caen (Normandy, France), takes the artist one step further in her exploration of femininity.

The presentation of the two opposed but complementary archetypes of the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalena acquires here a new dimension, with the chapel resonating with the perception of women through religion, but also through the centuries and generations. the artist's vision builds upon her own personal experience as she was born and raised in the area. 

As though found in an attic, evoking the feeling of childhood memories, the artworks are installed throughout a collection of old wooden furniture and domestic objects. The seemingly haphazard placement of the objects, lit by the occasional candle, comprises a cluttered circular composition at the center of the chapel.

The staggered heights of the installation culminate at the top of a wooden ladder, where a silk-print figure appears to fly away in an elegant and gentle surrender. As the only directly figurative human representation, the image incites viewers to question and redefine the parameters history has placed around the individual, the woman, and our human condition.  

On the closing day of the exhibition, on October 1st, 2016, a book was presented to the public.