Repli(t)s

A series of works I made during an art residency at TAMAT, the museum for tapestry of Tournai, Belgium.

Repli(t)s is a patchwork of encounters, intertwining diverse stories of Tournaisiens inhabitants across time - from past to present, from people I've met to archives of lived lives. I interrogated them about their homes and how particular objects or textiles reveal something about themselves, how an object can embody the spirit of the house and its owner. From bubble wrap to hammered window glasses; Soft or rigid materials unveil, cover, enclose and suggest an imaginary world specific to each person. Through photographs, drawings, notes and impressions, I transmuted these encounters into various samples, starting from a thread and a colour. The fabrics I assembled are hand-machine knitted or hand-embroidered, recreating a mattress, the vessel of intimacy, time, memory, bodies and habitats.

Handmachine knitted & handquilted stories are assembled together into a standard size mattress & blanket

Handmachine jacquard Knitted patterns that translate patterns, impressions related to a visit of a person and its habitat

All fabrics are made by hand & are resulting in a non spoken language translating my relation with different persons I met through time, captured by details, colors, light, emotions

Moirage paper & funeral beds / Archives from the folklore museum of Tournai.

Thoses moirage patterns I translated into a drawing. That drawing I used to make a jacquard knitted handmade fabric, using different yarns and playing with different transparencies.

Through photographs, drawings, notes and impressions, I transmuted encounters into various samples, starting from a thread and a colour.

My first encounters were with the curator of the Architectural Heritage of Tournai Cemeteries, Jacky Legge. He was also director of the Folklore museum of Tournai and told me a lot of stories related to tournaisian folklore related to the house and how particular objects can embody the spirit of the house and its owner.

Hammered window glass patterns & landscape shades are knitted into a fabric, using a handmachine knitting machine.

After the knitting process, is left the assembling process. All handmade fabrics are then sewn together into one standard size matress with an integrated draped handquilted blanket.

REPLI(T)S - GIGOULIN

Gigoulin is a work born from a reflection on the habitat and on the way in which certain objects can embody the spirit of a house and a person. The title is inspired by traditional objects that were once found in Tournai homes: small ornaments made from the hair of a deceased person. Placed on the windowsills, these objects seemed to come to life with the weather variations, creating a connection between the intimacy of the home and the outside elements.