Lost in space

Paradoxe Series

Acrylic and glass beads on canvas

Dimensions: 152 x 122 cm

This page offers a visual journey through the artwork Lost in Space. The viewer's gaze is guided through different points of focus, gradually revealing the tensions and questions conveyed by the canvas.
Through movement, rhythm and text, this approach opens up a complementary reading of the work.

Visual journey

This page offers a visual journey through the artwork Lost in Space

Ancre-perdu-dans-l-espace

Interpretation

Since the dawn of time, humankind has sought to leave its mark, by any means necessary. But, driven by narcissistic ambitions, are we not in the process of immortalizing our own demise?

Symbolic

Astronauts are often associated with progress and technological advancement.

Fascinated by his own image, he seems to forget even his own safety. This posture evokes the myth of Narcissus, fascinated by his own reflection to the point of forgetting the world around him.

The darker mass that is part of this bright orange planet draws our attention and invites us to question the relevance of exploring other planets that may be hostile to life when we already inhabit a planet that already has everything we need.

Certain words appear discreetly across the continent, inviting reflection on the place of the self in relation to the collective. The discreet presence of a dinosaur beneath the continent's surface serves as a reminder that no species is eternal.

This orange planet, for its part, evokes both a transformed Earth and a world yet unknown.

Reading the tensions

Lost in space is part of the Paradox project, an approach that seeks above all to raise questions, without necessarily offering clear answers.

The work depicts tourists adrift in a void, suspended in a moment of carefree abandon, capturing their own image even as their point of reference seems to have vanished. The dance sequence accentuates this impression of solitude and detachment, like a drift away from reality.

The pictorial surface incorporates glass beads, set in motion within a still-fluid gel, forming a mass that evokes a territory. Words are engraved upon it—"me" repeated, almost omnipresent, facing a singular "we." Through their semi-transparency, the beads reveal a dark, uncertain form, which may suggest the trace of a world in decline.

This material then becomes the bearer of a paradox: between presence and disappearance, between individualism and collective, between what is seen and what is revealed.

Between fascination, excess and loss of bearings, the image becomes a space for questioning.

How far can we go before losing what connects us?

Approach / process / intention

Video in progress

This video illustrates the creative process used during the creation of the work and its relationship to the concept of the Paradox event and dance.

Approach / process / intention

The artistic intention was to produce a work that would fit the concept of paradox while evoking the question of the human trace and the contradictions linked to technological progress, narcissism, the survival of the human species and the relativity of our time in the face of cosmic time.

creative process

The painting began with the creation and positioning of the astronaut figure and the planet beneath it. The contrast between the deep black of space and the vibrant orange of the planet was then developed. In creating the continent, I sought to juxtapose the emptiness of space with a richly textured material, while also incorporating various lines of thought.

I chose glass beads for their uniformity, size and translucency, which allow the underlying layers to be revealed gradually.

One of the most interesting properties of this material is the possibility of writing words on it simply by moving the marbles, like drawing letters in the sand on a beach.

The final step involved applying a thin layer of dark paint only to the tops of the marbles in order to maintain their translucency while increasing the contrast of the inscriptions.