In early 2021, the artist developed, following multiple manipulations and experiments with her medium, a cruciform form with precise proportions. This geometric structure, both rigorous and open, quickly became a recurring motif that she initially declined horizontally, exploring its possible variations.

A year later, the historical context gave this research a new resonance. While a close friend of the artist was in Mariupol, a photograph by Stepan Franko for the Keystone agency, published on Swissinfo *, caught her attention: an Odessa avenue invaded by anti-tank hedgehogs. The almost monochrome image reveals a striking geometric arrangement. This visual shock, combined with the emotion of conflict, marked a turning point in her creative process.

This is when the horizontal cross (17 x 31 cm) tilts at 50°, transposed to a scale of 1/10.

The artist undertakes to tirelessly repeat this module in an almost monomaniacal approach, recalling the proliferation of defensive hedgehogs on the roads. Each element is meticulously arranged, in a quest for both order and tension. The ferruginous hues—those of oxidizing iron—reinforce the echo between the symbolic material and the emotional charge of the form.

From the first intuitive manipulation to the ordered repetition, the cruciform module embodies for the artist a space of condensation: between personal and collective memory, between geometric rigor and vulnerability, between plastic gesture and vital necessity of creation in the face of reality.

 

*Photograph by Stepan Franko ( Keystone ) published in Swissinfo , March 18, 2022.

Go to the page on swissinfo (second photograph):

https://www.swissinfo.ch/fre/cinquieme-suisse/aujourd-hui-en-suisse/47444998