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Residency Paris
July - October 2024
Three month residency in the heart of Paris
cité internationale des arts x Institut Français, with support from Fondation Francés
July - October 2024
Three month residency in the heart of Paris
cité internationale des arts x Institut Français, with support from Fondation Francés
In this residency in the Parisian Marais, I decided to focus on a new obsession: a dotted horse. The month before coming to Paris, I went on the Camino del Norte. On this long walk from the French/Spanish border to Santiago de Compostela, I saw one special dotted horse in a meadow. Something in me recognized her, and she wouldn’t leave my mind. So, I decided to figure out why I was so suddenly obsessed with this horse, despite my big fear for this beautiful, muscular, big animal.
Through painting, drawing, aquarelling and collaging, I found out that this horse was a visualization of my fear. In this process I got closer to this fear. I did not look too much at realistic horses, but tried to visualize what this scary horse looked like in my head. Like a nightmare figure. I started drawing myself with the same dots and vampire teeth as I drew the horse with, made us meet in a painting, and made us wrestle.
I realized that me and the horse are one. That the fears you carry are not separate from you, but that you are the fear too. What I found interesting is that a horse is a mirroring animal, they mirror your energy, revealing what your body language says. In this project I got closer to this fear, and exploring the topic of control.
Oil on linnen, 150x170 cm, Aug. 2024
Oil on linnen, 170x200 cm, July 2024