Jans sculptuurblog: mei 2018

donderdag 24 mei 2018

donderdag 10 mei 2018

Ma madeleine 5

Ma Madeleine 5
Papier maché (varnished), approx 30x15x12 cm

Ma Madeleine 5 is part of a series of identically named papier maché works that are meditations on memory.
The work consists of three quarter ball forms attached to a vertical (back) part and a larger, straighter horizontal part which forms the top of the work. The work is presented just under the ceiling.
The title Ma Madeleine is a reference to Proust’s “A la recherché du temps perdu”. In “Du coté de chez Swann” the protagonist drinks a cup of tea in which he has dipped one of those light cakes which resemble a shell form. As soon as he tastes it, he is engulfed by a joyous sensation of being transported back into time, to when his aunt used to give him just that combination.
The expression “la madeleine de Proust” or “la madeleine trempée dans une cuillerée de thé” is often used to refer to a combination of sensory impressions which jogs the memory pleasantly. “Mais, quand d’un passé ancien rien ne subsiste, après la mort des êtres, après la destruction des choses, seules, plus frêles mais plus vivaces, plus immatérielles, plus persistantes, plus fidèles, l’odeur et la saveur restent encore longtemps, comme des âmes, à se rappeler, à attendre, à espérer, sur la ruine de tout le reste, à porter sans fléchir, sur leur gouttelette presque impalpable, l’édifice immense du souvenir.” (Proust, Du coté de chez Swann).
The tactility and colour of papier maché remind me of the raw mud which swallows would build nests with in the ancient garage of my painter grandfather. The work brings sights and smells from those days, “l’édifice immense du souvenir”.