FRAGMENTS
Fragments is a collaboration between psychologist Zoe Valentin and artist Rosemarie Auberson. The book is inspired by Valentin’s time working at a care facility in Seine-Saint-Denis, in suburban Paris, with displaced foreign young adults.
In this environment, Valentin was confronted with language barriers and cultural differences; words could be misinterpreted, gestures misunderstood. These challenges in communication – the foundation of her work – catalysed a journey to find the ‘essence of language’. Making notes on small non-verbal cues, such as colours, glances and smiles, she began to develop small poems. Each tells a story, regaling the energy and life she observed in her interactions with a vivid elegance.
Valentin’s words and Aubserson’s abstract shapes and swathes of colour unite to form a rich, coherent language, which speaks both to the head and the heart; the reader is propelled from the position of mere witness and into the conversation, bringing their own interpretations and emotions. The intricate book design by Virginie Fouin pays reverent attention to the simplest details, such as the red binding and soft cover with a flap which, when unfolded, reveals more artwork.
The book will be released in December 2019 as a run of only 350 copies, with 50 copies numbered and signed by the author and artist. Profits will be donated to Centre Primo Levi, which offers psychotherapeutic care to adults and adolescents who have been victims of political violence in their country of origin.
Words
- Libby Borton
Photos
- Rosemarie Auberson
Related
- 03.03.22
Movement of Impermanence by Rosemarie Auberson
Read moreRosemarie Auberson’s paintings sometimes, but not necessarily, arise from the observation of images, photographs or film stills brought to a form of abstraction. These references are not the main subjects, but rather starting points that facilitate the development of the paintings. "I try to evoke the feeling that something is in progress,” says Auberson. “The materials used are not precious (wood panels, cardboard) and the paintings are reworked many times before their final version. What interests me is the movement between something finished and unfinished — like an image seen furtively and then appropriated by the memory. It's an attempt to capture impermanence."
- 04.08.20
Passe Avant Minuit
Read moreRosemarie Auberson has collaborated with ceramic artist Juliette Teste to produce a collection of ceramic pieces titled Passe Avant Minuit, exhibited at 0fr Gallery, Paris in November 2019. Adopting a mindset of open experimentation, free from any imposed direction or meaning, the partnership resulted in a playful process of creation, with Auberson painting on the ceramic forms created by Teste.