Reflections upon my three month stay at VilleKulla.
From city g*rl to village g*rl; One can only try to summarize what Faucogney-et-la-mer does with a city-bound artist (being born in a village in the Belgian country side, I could have come more mentally prepared, but the village shock strikes me every time again). Having taken multiple vehicles to arrive in Faucogney (no sea anywhere but much more green then my city-heart possibly could have imagined), fresh air immediately opened up my lungs and so as well my overheated brain.
The villa, with its beautiful warming heart ‑the stove- warmed our cold bones, and drew us together. In its architectural complexity ‑two houses connected in diverse ways, split by a courtyard- we all found our spot where we could work, retreat and come together. The villa worked as a miniature cosmos.
Coming from a very overwhelming reality my body and mind enjoyed the slowing down. Daily walks opened up my imagination and nature awed me every time again. The landscape was constantly changing, ever so slowly yet so visible to those who paid close attention. I started drawing and felt how nature slipped in my hand, and found its way on the paper. Textures, shadows, and organic shapes flowed over the paper that I had made myself with findings from my walks. Adding flower petals, moss, and other dried pieces of plants the paper soon became a landscape in itself. The drawings serve as a topography of fantasies. Through the repetition of fictional symbols, patterns, and shifting perspectives, these drawings operate through a code that constantly reshapes itself.
Nature’s texture also seeped into experiments with paper that evolved into projects on their own. Stitching drawings and gluing wood snippets, moss, and other found elements the drawings became little fictional dreamworlds.
Allowing my mind to open up again, I also picked up writing again and pressed my nose back into reading. I found myself wandering around with Hito Steyen, Freud, Kae Tempest and many others. A script started to form in my head and a (theatre-) text soon on paper. Dedicated to creating a video performance, I started making props, sewing some costumes, and filming in the villa and its surroundings. The video work functions as an essayistic collage. It alternates between two worlds, both real and imaginary. At the core lies uncertainty, delusion, fantasy, and invention. One is never sure what is real, if one even has a definition of ‹the real.›
A lot more is left to say and I am not close to a little of the lots. Yet, to summarize my village escapade: I feel endless gratitude for the other artists who made me feel at home – I could laugh with, share a meal or a struggle. It made me feel that we are artists are always connected, and part of a bigger whole. This residency was for me an experience in this slowing-down-machine. I am forever appreciative of the nature & walks, and the time for creating without pressure in which I found a big, new amount of energy.
xoxo
Lau
@lauskiiiiii
@ysabibi (for drawings and tattoos)