UNDER YOUR SPELL
SOLO SHOW
Tiffany Bouelle
From October 10 to November 2, 2024
March 2024 – “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.” For the first time, her bearings shatter, giving way to a memory almost erased by the conventions of age. The subject resurfaces as a fracture. Now floating, in black and white, it demands a new place in Tiffany Bouelle’s work.
With a single stroke inherited from her grandfather, a master of Japanese calligraphy, the artist continues to develop this unique technique. After a period of abstraction, she is beginning a gradual return to figuration, thus regaining a sense of grounding, a connection to herself. A transition is taking place, a movement oscillating between a tangible world and a more introspective universe.
The subjects also appear in color, sometimes marked by reminiscences of childhood, those privileged places of reverie always tinged with a gentle melancholy. Gaston Bachelard remarks in this regard: "What a privilege of depth there is in the reveries of the child! Happy is the child who has possessed, truly possessed, his solitudes!"
This retreat to childhood, to the hidden corners of memory, forges the essence of his creation: a sequential chain where each scene is a fragment of a story. More than mere outlines, these narrative frames allow the artist to weave his own story through his work. The central drawing then becomes a facade, behind which lies a more intimate, invisible work, partially revealed only by the title.
It is no longer just the mystery of the images that is at play, but that of the artist herself. Just as she once collected the confidences of her friends, she now reveals her own, touching on a radical intimacy.
Tiffany Bouelle offers glimpses into her story without ever revealing everything. The painting "Drowning the Fish for a Bouquet of Tears" is a perfect example. This expression evokes the idea of diverting attention to conceal a truth. Here, the work leads us to a central point, where a fish appears to be drowning in a whirlpool of debris; however, behind this apparent chaos, a hidden work remains. Around this scene, the fragments dance like orbiting stars, and the frame evokes a chessboard, reminding us that "the die is cast," reinforcing this sense of inevitability.
In the staging of her works, this notion of passage, of opening, is central. The paintings are not confined to their frames, but extend beyond them, taking shape on the walls, embracing the forms of the space. The gallery itself, named 'PorteB,' suggests this idea of a threshold. It becomes a passage to Tiffany Bouelle's inner world, a place where art escapes its boundaries to invite the viewer to cross an invisible border.
In the intimacy of the studio lies a space of silence and retreat. It is in this isolation that the works are born, each painting a gateway to the artist's inner world. The secret touches the very essence of our being. It is not meant to be displayed, but it is the source of our creativity and our capacity to dream.
Thus, in each of the artist's pieces, a secret persists, both a richness and a mystery, which must be preserved. Beneath the surface of forms and colors, something remains, hidden, yet present, inviting the viewer to lose themselves in the meanders of what will never be fully revealed.
Elise ROCHE (Director of Projects and Exhibitions at HM Conseils)
