Hélice
Photogramme sur papier argentique noir et blanc, 24 x 18 cm, encadré sous passe-partout 50 x 40 cm, 2024
Œuvre réalisée dans le cadre de l'exposition Ce qui fut, ce qui est, musée Bourdelle, Paris, du 4 mars au 27 juillet 2025
PROPELLER -- Photogram on black and white silver print, 24 x 18 cm, matted and framed 50 x 40 cm, 2024
Created for the exhibition Ce qui fut, ce qui est, Musée Bourdelle, Paris, 4th March - 27th July 2025
Œuvre réalisée dans le cadre de l'exposition Ce qui fut, ce qui est, musée Bourdelle, Paris, du 4 mars au 27 juillet 2025
PROPELLER -- Photogram on black and white silver print, 24 x 18 cm, matted and framed 50 x 40 cm, 2024
Created for the exhibition Ce qui fut, ce qui est, Musée Bourdelle, Paris, 4th March - 27th July 2025
Soucieuse d’explorer l’esprit du lieu – le genius loci –, Isabelle Giovacchini a prélevé dans le jardin du musée Bourdelle différentes essences botaniques, qu’elle a sélectionnées pour leur qualité formelle ou leur singularité historique. Dans l’obscurité de son atelier, elle réalise ensuite des photogrammes en disposant les fruits de sa récolte – ici un chèvrefeuille – sur une surface photosensible qu’elle expose brièvement à la lumière avant de les développer. Ces photogrammes, inventés au mitan du XIXème siècle par les pionniers du médium photographique, engendrent des images très contrastées. En recourant à deux sources lumineuses simultanées, l’artiste parvient à restituer l’illusion savante du volume.
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In her attentive quest to capture the spirit of the place — the genius loci — Isabelle Giovacchini carefully gathered various botanical specimens from the garden of the Musée Bourdelle, selecting them for their distinctive forms and evocative historical presence. Back in the shadowed quiet of her studio, she composed photograms by arranging these natural fragments — in this case, honeysuckle — on photosensitive paper, briefly allowing them to meet the light before revealing their hidden imprints in the developing process. Invented in the mid-19th century by the pioneers of photography, photograms conjure starkly contrasted images that seem to oscillate between presence and absence. By harnessing two simultaneous sources of light, the artist conjures an illusion of volume, offering a delicate echo of life’s fragility captured in a luminous silhouette.
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In her attentive quest to capture the spirit of the place — the genius loci — Isabelle Giovacchini carefully gathered various botanical specimens from the garden of the Musée Bourdelle, selecting them for their distinctive forms and evocative historical presence. Back in the shadowed quiet of her studio, she composed photograms by arranging these natural fragments — in this case, honeysuckle — on photosensitive paper, briefly allowing them to meet the light before revealing their hidden imprints in the developing process. Invented in the mid-19th century by the pioneers of photography, photograms conjure starkly contrasted images that seem to oscillate between presence and absence. By harnessing two simultaneous sources of light, the artist conjures an illusion of volume, offering a delicate echo of life’s fragility captured in a luminous silhouette.
