COMBINE 2012: Annual Undergraduate Student Exhibition

Sophie-Anne Bélisle’s Untitled (04.01.12-16.03.12) recalls childhood acts of discovery, burying, and play. As a child, one may “plant” fruits in the backyard, expecting trees to grow, and instead finding rot. Childhood memories blend pleasing moments and the uncomfortable—cozy memories of old houses, bad days and kitsch clothing, time spent exploring one’s surroundings and creating hideouts.

Sophie-Anne’s piece is at odds with itself: it is at once grotesque, and yet attractive. These objects, fruits decomposing within felt spheres, are at first visually simple and charming. The felted wool is lovely in its softness, texture and colour, and the charming bench, handmade by the artist, looks as if it could be found in a grandmother’s house or a school. This warmth invites the viewer to lower oneself towards the objects, but the viewer is hit at once with the powerful odour of decay. We are torn between wanting to cradle the nest-like forms and having them removed from sight and smell.

There is comfort in knowing that the witnessed moment is not permanent. While the objects are tangible, and the decay is real, the viewer’s experience with the piece is not static. The fruits will progressively soil their cocoons, until all that remains is that which cannot fully disappear: seeds and traces on the wool. Eventually, even the distinct odour of the fruit will fade. The marks on the wool evoke death, memorializing what once was there.

Time reveals itself to be a valuable partner in art-making. It should not be lost on the viewer that the felted nests suggest mold, which itself points toward time: such a vast accumulation of mold would require a long period of putrefaction. Moreover, through the arduous and time-consuming process of felting, the artwork refers to its own performativity, which begins in the artist’s hands, and then develops in the subsequent biological process.

Leaving the spheres open provides the viewer with a candid sense of discovery, similar to the contentment of childhood explorations. As it is, the work is troubling, yet calming; uplifting yet repulsive—not unlike our memories of time gone by.  

As an artist, Sophie-Anne explores non-traditional practices of drawing. To her, drawing matters because it leaves a mark. At the root of her artistic preoccupations is an investigation of mark-making beyond the paper medium. Untitled (04.01.12-16.03.12) is an exploration of such an idea, effectively leaving a mark in three-dimensional space.

The project engages with feelings of breakdown, absence, passing, and loss, while also accounting for past comforts and what has been left behind. The remains of putrefaction on soiled wool evoke the painful sentimentality of memory, a challenging acknowledgement of time.