Audrey Fondecave | Elapse, Being-Time

"The washi paper attracted me in several ways—its uniqueness, its porosity, the colors and the grid made by the folds. It’s not blank, it is hand dyed, and there is a tie-dye effect in vivid colors. Washi paper is made for wrapping, not painting. I couldn’t paint on it the way I did on other papers, and so I had to learn how to and integrate it as an essential part of the piece. Between each application of paint, the pigments would sink into the paper, and in between each layer I was required to wait for the paint to dry so that I could discover how the pigments would re-appear on the surface. The grid guided the movement of the brush, and although I often close my eyes when I paint, the grid stayed in my mind, becoming an integrated system. Seeing the water and the colors permeate the paper or not I couldn’t help thinking about Dogen’s writings on time (Uji/ Being-time): ‘Even though the dimensions of the twelve hours could never be measured, we call them twelve hours. The trace of time’s coming and going is so clear that no one questions it.’ Everything that is part of time is being. Being is just being-time. Those paintings are just traces of time, elapses of my time spent with the paper."

Audrey Fondecave Solo Exhibition at The Fridge
"Elapse, Being-Time" June 6th to June 28th 2020