The flight of the silkworm

The installation consists of several paintings made in a single gesture with only natural materials, on panels of silk « crêpeline » bought in Lyon. Each panel is 98,4 inches long by 55 inches.

The project was initiated in Lyon in 2020 by Lyon-born artist Carine Figueras. She was then living abroad and had to return due to the pandemic conditions. The project is thus linked to Lyon history, to the artist’s family roots, to the Canuts silk workers and to the silk industry, to the natural site of Lyon with its two rivers. She conducted research particularly during two artist residencies at Fort Saint Laurent in 2020 and at Cour des Loges in 2021, which led her to work on ancien silk panels, on silk chiffon from maison Combier, and then on crêpeline silk.

The medium used for painting is made by the artist solely from natural materials. These are either collected locally, or in direct reference to her living and working places. Here, she used ultramarine blue. This pigment was synthesized in 1827 by Lyon-born Jean Batiste Guimet, who won the competition launched to obtained the same chemical formula as the precious Lapis Lazuli. She also used yellow ochers (comptoir de Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or), in reference to the golden hill of Croix Rousse. Other pigments such as Emerald, Turquoise, Turmeric, refers to her recent life experience and to the changing hue of Rhone and Saône rivers.

Each painting is one unique gesture stroke. The trace is a record of the precise moment of the making, with all its feelings, with its weather conditions, and its environment. The tool is a bundle of horsehair. Carine having lived in Korea and China, her work is inspired by Chinese calligraphy, its practice and its philosophy.

Using only natural and local ressources, each painting is a manifesto for Ecology.