Portraits, 2023, performance held on the terraces of France 3, photos: Eric Bénard
I propose a performance in which drawing, freed from the constraints of paper, is inscribed on faces to highlight the marks of time. This project is about drawing the other intimately, exploring them in depth through the matrix of skin. The brush caresses the face, delicately and slowly tracing each wrinkle of the participants. It accentuates every furrow and reveals the scars of the past, of the heart and soul. This special moment, organized with the participation of a photographer and the participants, provides a space to reconnect with oneself, a time to tell one's story, a connection to create a dialogue about "who am I? "
Photographs taken during the Portraits performance in June 2023, France 3 terrace
This artistic project is part of an aesthetic reflection on the natural and human imprint. The skin, this interface that supports our existence and our lived experience, is etched with the ebb and flow of our internal thoughts. It constitutes a framework for interpretation, retaining traces of our past and present emotional states. It records events that leave furrows and sculpt our face according to our emotions. This performance also leads us to social and intellectual reflection. It raises the question of the status of the elderly and their appearance. This body, upon which the passage of time forms an existential landscape, prompts us to question our vision of old age. We might ask ourselves what message these wrinkled faces convey to younger generations. The photographs of drawn faces produced during this performance bear witness to a powerful human encounter, highlighting the natural beauty of these faces through their lived experience and wisdom. The objective is to value and emphasize the lived experiences of these participants, to highlight their identity. To look, to look at oneself, and to be looked at. It is in this intersection of perspectives, with this questioning around appearances, that the identity of the being can be reborn.
Testimonials
Delphine : "I had a very particular sensory and emotional experience because it touches on the intimate, on my perception of myself and my relationship to the passage of time. Soft, light and graceful, the brushstroke represents a moment of great sensuality and a beautiful complicity with the artist in a context of mutual observation: glances meet, smiles are exchanged, words are shared as the marks appear gradually in this confidential correspondence."i vécu une expérience sensorielle et sensible très particulière car elle touche à l'intime, à ma perception de moi-même et à mon rapport au temps qui passe. Douce, légère et gracieuse, la marque du pinceau représente un moment d'une très grande sensualité et d'une belle complicité avec l'artiste dans un contexte d'observation mutuelle : des regards se croisent, des sourires se répondent, des mots s'échangent alors que les traces apparaissent au fur et à mesure de cette correspondance confidentielle. >>
Jean-Christophe :"At first, the torture of the pen...remaining stoic...not moving...then the torture becomes a caress under the artist's benevolence. Little by little, curiosity overcomes direct sensation, becomes doubt, then deliverance, and finally, the discovery of another self...Intoxicating."
Mark Peintre : "Yolande Guérout's line has traced time. Her artist's hand has marked the painter, model, now canvas. A human canvas, an old skin revealed to memory, astonished to still be there at the Aban/Don. A Rouen stroll to the Aître, which is no more. To be at Saint-Maclou, at the castle, at the cathedral, to be in color itself, even if flawed, even bleached black. IMPRESSIONS."
Gilles : “Yolande Guérout is ruthless. She shows us what we most don't want to see. And we are torn apart. The brushstrokes that lightly touch make us want to laugh, but it's a laughter that quickly turns uneasy, while the prospect that awaits us is frightening. We are confronted with our own vanity.”