The Stones Are Part of the Path
2021
22 inks on Canson Figueras paper, 18 x 13 cm
22 stones with 23.73-carat Rosenoble double gold leaf
Like a ritual, and every morning for several years, I have been making an ink blot on paper and penning a short poem. These blots are the product of four elements coming together: black ink, water, paper, and chance.
On the occasion of the publication of my poetry collection The Stones Are Part of the Path, a selection of 22 poems written between 2008 and 2018 that predates this ritual, I have created 22 small-format inks, each one following the same technique.
Each ink is named after a poem and is accompanied by a stone, collected from the walkways of the Provence, and illuminated with gold markings.
This minimalist and spiritual work, inspired by Asian art and Taoist philosophy, pays tribute to the Way, and to the Void. The meeting of the black ink, the white space of the page, and water evokes the duality of yin and yang, and the power of the breath necessary for the creation of everything. The blot, a veritable microcosm of infinite variations, becomes a landscape-feeling within the imagery of the poem that accompanies it.
The stones, recurring regularly throughout my work, embody time, eternity, that which retains (memory), and the soul, according to Jewish tradition. They are elevated through a golden glow, a symbol of light and spirituality.
This work is the very essence of my poetic questioning of the boundaries between existence and extinction.
Exhibition venue: Private space – Geneva
Performance at 6th Biennial Kugler Artists
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The Stones Are Part of the Path
2021, Collection of 22 poems