An ongoing photographic body of work reflecting on the central role of process in my practice. It is also a form of response and homage to other artists and writers whose ideas on process are significant to me.
Thinking through the arm – Beuys, 2016
Le tissu se plie sur soi. La peau sur elle-même prend conscience. – Serres, 2020
(English translation: “The fabric folds onto itself. The skin, on itself, becomes aware.” – Serres)
Note: In French, the word “ourself” is a homonym of the word “silk” (sounds the same but is written differently)
This work focuses on “America’s silk”, Asclepiad, which has endless talents and skills (yes I am speaking of Asclepiad like a person to pay respect to its unicity and agency potential!). For instance, Asclepiad’s thermal capacity is currently put at work as insulation for winter clothing. Artists and artmaking play with this idea of potential and metamorphosis all the time, modifying, adapting, shifting material or an idea into something else or different than expected – and again, and again over time. The process that I follow in my work, these multiple cycles of transformation, mirrors this idea: a still life made with my scanogramed technique (cameraless photography) and with Asclepiad, was printed on silk, photographed, and reprinted.
Katherine Melançon 