After all the movement and exhibitions in June, July was a productive and creative month! ✨
Continuing the collection "Uprising of the Earth", I managed to bring to life my latest painting, "Samson".
The aim of this collection is to question our relationship as humans to nature and the elements. Through these paintings, I begin to interpret it through pareidolia (the fact of seeing concrete shapes in nature without this being the case, for example: the shape of the clouds which represents a bear). This painting therefore came in this way, at the beginning of the Gorges du Verdon in the south of France from a place called "Point Sublime".
I stopped there for a moment, taking deep breaths, listening to the silence and connecting to the elements. Suspended moment. And then they appeared, these giant hands coming out of the Gorges, as if to push them aside and come towards us. Then this sensation made sense by interesting me in the origin of the name of this gateway to the Verdon: The Samson corridor.
Legend says that its name comes from the character Samson from the Hebrew Bible, whose strength is similar to that of Hercules, and that he separated the mountain in two in order to find his beloved Dalila who lived in the village nearby, Rougon. He thus created the gorges and became their guardian.
This legend makes more sens because it echoes other folklore legends about giants and makes me want to continue in this direction, to go hunting for giants! 🗿
At the same time, it was time to create new paintings to join the collection and archive old paintings that were lying around on the shelf. So I unpinned several of them, 80x80cm format, to hang new linen ones on the frame.
This is how “Exodus” and “Open to the world” were born and will be exhibited for the first time today, at the Salon Littéraire de Peyroules (04).
In a spiral movement, “Exodus” is inspired by population movements, whether political or climatic refugees, as well as population movements within a territory itself. At its center, the almost chaotic broth of life, shapes and colors tangled on top of each other. Then the more we move away, the more harmonious they are. The harder they are to reach as well. We find plots of countryside, inhabitants at the foot of the mountains, who follow this dynamic, projected outwards.
“Open to the world” is a painting that aims to be full of hope, welcoming the living and peace. Mountains form hands as if to welcome the light and create a benevolent space in opposition to the mysterious and uncertain blue exterior. We easily feel captured by this soothing light, nature wants us well, no matter who we are, it welcomes us like a sister, in a message of peace and tolerance.
As these paintings progress, the history of this collection is written to give hope for a better relationship between humans and nature, to remind us that we are part of a whole and that this reconnection is necessary to live more peacefully.
And if there is one thing that art allows, it is this gathering, carrying a message of hope and tolerance as this opening ceremony of the Olympic Games showed us. Even if it only lasted a while, it had the merit of making us feel united for a moment. So why not also experience this communion with the elements?
During my last intervention in Donzy, a city in the middle of the country, for Habellis housing, nature and its landscapes were also there.
From July 22 to 26, we were with Raoul in Donzy to allow tenants to decorate the halls of their buildings with personalized paintings. Young and old have contributed to enhancing nature through the forest, the sea, the mountains, the night and the cosmos. Beautiful productions were created and a great moment with the participants which allowed them to change their daily lives a little.
The next workshop will be in August with children aged 3/4 at the Séranon leisure center for a fresco on the animals of the nocturnal world commissioned by the Regional Natural Park of the Préalpes d'Azur.
In the meantime, I'll exhibit in my adopted village at the Rencontres Littéraires du Teillon in Peyroules to meet great authors and discover my latest paintings!
See you soon and have a nice summer ✨
Auriane