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In the studio with Théophile Rolland
What does working in Paris, at the Cité internationale des arts, bring to you at this particular stage in your career?
Being in residence in Paris gives me the chance to discover many aspects of the city that were previously unknown to me. I am constantly encountering new people, new places and new ways of bringing artistic practices to life. As I am on a long-term residency at the Cité, I am really taking the time to explore the various scenes, which allows me not only to gain a better understanding of certain aspects of my work, but also to forge lasting relationships with other artists and art professionals. It is above all these opportunities for connection offered by the Cité – and, in a way, by the city of Paris as a whole – that lead me to engage my work in dialogue with new energies, moving beyond an isolated studio practice.
What projects are you currently working on, and what questions or themes underpin them?
I primarily create objects and installations centred on the concepts of attention, time and illusion. My work takes shape through discarded or neglected materials that I gather, assemble and transform through careful – often satirical – gestures drawn as much from craftsmanship as from so-called ‘amateur’ practices.
Since arriving at the Cité, I have sought to explore further the sometimes ambiguous relationships that bind us to everyday objects, whether symbolic or mundane, by creating a series of works that play on the evocation of emotions and their potential manipulation, or even their role within relationships of power and domination. More specifically, this series draws on the themes of childhood, entertainment and the media, and takes the form of familiar, seemingly reassuring objects from which emanates a more diffuse sense of unease. It is this tension that interests me and that I continue to explore in this work, which demands a high level of attention in order to see through the pretences and uncover the hidden details that forge links between aesthetic and political realms.
Since arriving at the Cité, I have sought to explore further the sometimes ambiguous relationships that bind us to everyday objects, whether symbolic or mundane, by creating a series of works that play on the evocation of emotions and their potential manipulation, or even their role within relationships of power and domination. More specifically, this series draws on the themes of childhood, entertainment and the media, and takes the form of familiar, seemingly reassuring objects from which emanates a more diffuse sense of unease. It is this tension that interests me and that I continue to explore in this work, which demands a high level of attention in order to see through the pretences and uncover the hidden details that forge links between aesthetic and political realms.
How have these projects developed since the start of your residency?
I began creating new pieces as soon as I arrived at the Cité, and since then my working process has continued to evolve and take unexpected turns. Firstly, the studio’s generous size quickly led me to experiment on a larger scale than I was used to. Then, as I fed my practice with improvisation, randomly sourced materials and exchanges with the outside world, the work almost developed of its own accord, taking the form of a serial project. Part of the process then involved letting myself be guided by interplay between formal and textual associations, without setting rules too far in advance, but rather by following the directions dictated by the materials, gestures and intuitions. It is truly this balance that I continue to pursue with this work: between what everyday objects and forms tell us and what we wish to make them say.
