Act III : Ce que je laisse...
Act III
What I leave ...

2017/2018
Traces and footprints
10 people, 20 feet, 20 hands, 40 transfers, 40 photos, 10 imprints / traces
5 people in France - 5 people in Quebec

After abandoning fragments of my life, I wanted to look at what remains, the afterlife, what we leave behind: the trace or the imprint. And of course, the foot or hand seemed obvious to me. But which of these two subjects? As I was digging into this idea, I realized that the line between footprint and trace is very thin. Often they merge, overlap. Both playing to take first place, but what about it? Because a imprint can become a trace like a trace a imprint. . .
So I decided that I couldn't separate them and that it would be interesting to see how each person defines the trace and the print. And, of course, the foot and hand, together too. Imprints leave traces? Or traces leave imprints?
Already in itself, the Totem Project is working on these two subjects: the print with the transfer (what remains of it), the trace with the photo.
When we read the definitions of each of the words, we can see how the two telescopes. . . But we could say that the trace is not materiality, it is subjective in its interpretation and that a contrario the imprint does not evolve in time, it is frozen, embedded in matter.
Traces/imprints are part of all life processes. Transmission bases in the generational, artistic, conservation of cultural property, human history, knowledge. . .
As humans, our conscience leads us to ask ourselves "what are we doing here";, what is our role in this life, what are we going to leave and how much time do we have. . . This fear of the ephemeral pushes us to leave a trace/impression of our passage in this life so that it is not in vain. Hope for eternity. . . .
Traces/imprints are not always visible as the traumas (traces) that an individual encounters throughout his or her life and that become prints.
They are the basis of all societies, linked to the evolution of mankind. We are ourselves traces/imprints, the result of all the ones we have been left with.

But what about each of us? How do we interpret it? What traces/imprints do we leave? Which ones would you like to leave? Where are you located in relation to those left by our ancestors? How do you register in these? How do we live with it? Will the trace disappear and the print remain?
So many questions that I would like this work to answer, or at least provide some answers for each one. . .
Act III, as for Act II, will take place in two countries, straddling two cultures.
I chose Quebec because our cousins in America seem to me to be able to reflect on this theme because of the link between our common origins. What is left of it today? Are we the ones who left a trail? Are they the ones who made a trail of it? They have not given up their original culture with this fierce desire to preserve the language and French cultural particularities despite the cultural dictatorship that has been imposed on them for centuries. They are integrated into modern society while maintaining their difference. They have created their own fingerprints/tracks, thus constituting their own cultural identity. As French people, we see traces of our past in them, not in architecture, material, but in language and ideas, the invisible. It will be interesting to discuss this theme with Quebecers and to know their vision of it. . . .

With two supports (hand/foot), I oriented my work so as not to overload the exposure.
It seems important to me that the same person connects the two themes and is in a way the synthesis of this duo. For hands and feet, we have a visible part (top of the foot and hand) and a hidden part (sole of the foot and palm of the hand, which becomes visible by leaving an impression/trace). This will allow us to work on visible and invisible traces/imprints. . . .
For the sake of clarity, I chose the hand as the support for the print and the foot for the print.
The transfer is made on cotton canvas.

Phase 1: what is visible
The hand: What is a imprint?
The foot: What is a trace?

Phase 2: what is invisible
The palm: What trace or imprint would you like to leave?
The sole of the foot: How do you fit into the ones left by our ancestors?

Phase 3 : synthesis with imprint/trace of the sole of the foot or the palm of the hand
What would you prefer to leave: trace or print? :
Hand (print) or foot (print) impression, ink on paper
What trace or imprint has marked you? (personal or historical)

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Part 1 - LA FRANCE

5 people, 10 feet, 10 hands, 20 transfers, 20 photos, 5 fingerprints / traces

Work with the same person begins with phase 3: the ink print,
then the two paintings of phase 1 and the two paintings of phase 2.

Phase 3: What trace or imprint did you mark?

A trace:
It's the smell of sulphated vines
Empreinte pied (encre sur papier 300 gr)

Phase 1: what is visible

What is a imprint?

Written or printed words
What is a trace?

It's the traces of animal paws in tar or cement

Phase 2 : what is invisible

What trace or imprint would you like to leave?

It's my smile like the Mona Lisa

How do you register in those left by our ancestors?

It is rather a feeling of continuity, of passing on the witness, with all the acceptance of the word witness
Phase 3: What trace or imprint did you mark?
A imprint :
It's my education. She left an indelible and inescapable imprint on my life
Empreinte de la main (encre sur papier 300gr)

Phase 1: what is visible

What is a imprint ?

That's what you leave consciously and stay. A memory
What is a trace?
It is what someone or something can leave but who does not necessarily belong. Ephemeral. Footprints in the desert that can fade with the wind

Phase 2 : what is invisible

What trace or imprint would you like to leave?
A timeless and international footprint to change the future
How do you register in those left by our ancestors?
Thegenetics, my culture and my language

Phase 3 :  What trace or imprint did you mark?
A imprint:
A scar. It is permanent and symbolizes a life wound

Handprint (ink on paper 300 gr)

Phase 1: what is visible

What is a imprint?
It's sustainable, it stays in time.
Rock paintings
What is a trace?
Our passage on earth

Phase 2 : what is invisible

What trace or imprint would you like to leave?
Leave the imprint of something that makes you happy but is not visible
How do you fit into the ones left by our ancestors?
Out of stock, the past can be cumbersome
Phase 3 : What trace or imprint has marked you?
A trace:
The traces people leave when they leave
Footprint (ink on paper 300 gr)

Phase 1: what is visible

What is a imprint?
Something anchored. A tree or Uluru
What is a trace ?
Something in motion. A bird, a passer-by, an odyssey

Phase 2 : what is invisible

What trace or imprint would you like to leave?
Something fugitive but tenacious
How do you register in those left by our ancestors?
The need of solitude, of distance from the world. To be secret to keep control
A trace :
I identified myself with a manga hero whose goal was to establish a form of justice by punishing the criminal with a notebook. I admired his finesse, his intelligence, his ambiguity with good and evil and his eagerness to continue his project
Footprint (ink on paper 300 gr)

Phase 1: what is visible

What is a imprint?

A stigma on one eye. Special to people who have witnessed and observed an anxiety-provoking event that they must communicate to others and that has been impressed on the eye
What is a trace?

It is an element, a residue, a support that fits in our interiority and that will coordinate our sensory and emotional life.
Traces that can leave a family inheritance, their secrets, denials, which are traces in the descent

Phase 2 : what is invisible

What trace or imprint would you like to leave?
My derision and my laugh, a joyous irony
How do you fit into the ones left by our ancestors?
I am part of a continuity, with an attempt to step back and question it. To question the relevance of these traces to emancipate myself a little bit from them
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