Exhibition of paintings and sculptures "Entre deux mondes" by the Sirènes artists' association

"Between two worlds

Imagination meets reality or vice versa

Artists like to navigate between the waters of ambiguity and meaning. They like to sow pebbles to lose the viewer or lead us down false paths. When the imagination dominates artistic thought, a lot is possible. They lead us, the simple viewers, to wonder about what makes sense, about the shameful or hidden realities of our present, about what scandalises us when the world is torn between cultures or when injustice is too blatant, but also about the worlds we could dream of, the convolutions of our brains in turmoil, and about the world that they, the artists, light up in our eyes and give us to see beyond appearances.

These two approaches literally place us between two worlds, our own and that of others, reality and dream.

The Sirènes artists, on show until 7 October, present works that resonate with these two poles.

Between the humanist or alarming concerns of Laurence Castermans and Nanou Marcer about the state of the world, and the visions or dreamlike landscapes of Patricia Seraidarian and Rachel Valy, we travel with great pleasure on the shores of these worlds that hardly touch but on which we all hope to land.

Didier Locicero
President of the Sirènes association


Laurence Castermans

laurence.castermans@hotmail.com
06 20 97 04 41

Trained at the Rock Académie in Brussels and awarded a diploma in sculpture in 1997, Laurence works in clay from live models or photographs. She sculpts clay as one sculpts stone, removing the clay with gestures that are first broad and then increasingly precise, in an attempt to bring out bodies and souls from the block.

Impossible destinies

"The pieces presented in this exhibition are mainly worked with sticks, clay that has been struck to express the distress of people forced to flee worlds of drought, war or misery in search of the illusory security that the other world seems to promise. An elderly woman loses her dignified look in the memory and solitude of the suffering she has endured. A young woman mourns the lives lost in the sea crossings and drowns in her tears. Young mothers, old women, children and young people driven onto the roads by impossible fates form human columns migrating towards an uncertain future."

Nanou Marcer

marcernanou@gmail.com
06 46 32 19 59

With a Master's degree in Fine Arts in her pocket, Nanou has stimulated and accompanied the imaginations of her pupils in the French Ministry of Education for 42 years. Today, free of all professional constraints, she delights in the magic of colour and remains at 'children's level', painting giant portraits of ethnic groups from the ends of the earth... to warn of the harmful effects of rampant globalisation and its inherent standardisation, which risks erasing all the richness of human diversity!

Breaking free from the clutches of selfies...

"At a time when we are invaded by images - printed, plastered, digital and virtual - how do we understand our relationship with others? Why continue to paint portraits when the digital empire is expanding all the time, making it possible to take images with unparalleled ease and immediacy?

No doubt it's the need to throw ourselves into a dizzying challenge and an obsessive quest to convey fragility and intimacy... Because, of all our bodies, the face is what remains naked. When we come face to face with others, it is this nakedness, this fragility, that we expose to the gaze of the other. It is this fragility that speaks to us... And, in this face-to-face encounter, what catches the eye in a portrait is often the gaze...

The other person's gaze is himself in all his simplicity. The gaze will reveal an opening towards the interior. The gaze calls out to the other, almost demanding a response. These Mine(s) de Rien portraits are looking at you!


Patricia Seraidarian

seraidarianpatricia@yahoo.fr
06 86 93 97 95

Patricia comes from an artistic background, having practised and taught ballet, before turning to the graphic arts. She attended the Beaux-Arts for 6 years, and was particularly interested in live models. Passionate about the body in all its forms and interpretations, she works in mixed media, modelling and ceramics.

The magic and creation of the world

"In my paintings, I have chosen to represent two inseparable universes: the celestial world and the earthly world.

The earthly world, in this case plant life, is alive, tangible and concrete.

The celestial world, infinite, impalpable, inaccessible, luminous, opaque, black and mysterious.

Two worlds that could not exist without each other, linked by the magic of the world's creation".

Rachel Valy

Rachelvaly120@gmail.com
06 62 62 10 35

Rachel has been self-taught for over 20 years. She has continued to learn through her encounters with different painters. The journey continues, ad infinitum. The ephemeral, the light, the airy, the gentle, the dreamlike and the poetic are her sources of inspiration. Painting is a way for her to escape, to be nourished by colour, shapes and spaces. It's a journey to the heart of the creative process, experimenting with colour and materials through intuitive painting.

Linking worlds

"My intention as an artist is to share with the public what moves me, to make the canvas a link between our respective worlds. Abstraction allows colours and shapes to liberate our feelings. Each work suggests and evokes sensations, journeys and landscapes; it's her personal interpretation of the visible to the invisible. A veritable ode to contemplative pleasure, nature and the senses become one. Emotions and mysteries fuel the dialogue, inviting us to guess and question... I allow myself to paint freely. What interests me is the creative process, the experimentation that brings me joy. As I listen to my sensations in contact with the material, shapes, colours and atmosphere emerge from the jumble. I immerse myself in it, take hold of it, bring back to calm what needs to be calmed and bring to life this universe that resonates within me".

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