re-visitation
melting stained glass – metal structure, wax, broken glass bits – 240x100cm – permanently at centre assomption lourdes, france / 2022 – A-A exhibition at the musée des augustins, toulouse, france
The sharp glass pieces hold together not anymore with lead but with soft, caring, warm wax.
The glass pieces are leftovers from various glass studios around Europe, and the wax of the chapel’s candles of the Centre Assomption in Lourdes, bringing the melted prayers from inside the intimacy of the church to outside in the beautiful nature.
Giving a new life to scraps, presenting them from another angle and allowing the unconsidered broken bits to shine and be at the center of attention.
Every year, the piece melts with summertime and calls me back to restore it. I then create another image until the next melt. It has become an annual ritual to me, in such a spiritually loaded place, coming back and taking the time to reflect on what happened, what broke, what got carried away by the wind, what disappeared, what’s left and how to re-arrange the pieces.
The act of caring is quite important, the piece is not done and ready to be forgotten yet but it is an ever changing, time-based sculpture that is being taken care of, perpetually, for who knows how long…