Marielle Paul – Calepin

About

Marielle Paul uses an open language in which recognisable, formal, formless, and unknown elements enter into free association. Like a poem whose words and interlines widen and shift the meaning, her works produce new imaginations and possibilities. Her inspiration derives from multiple sources: readings, journeys, impressions or fleeting ideas…

Marielle Paul’s favourite technique is gouache on paper – a beautiful, matte, unctuous material, rich in pigments. She works it in flat tints or with a brush loaded with a range of colours which are revealed by the application on the paper. Her discovery of lithographic ink a few years ago was a revelation. The subtle variations of grey and black and ink’s potential for overlays and transparencies has added a new dimension to her world.

Calepin, the title of Marielle Paul’s first exhibition at the Galerie Maria Lund, refers to calepinage – a layout sketch developed to prepare and catalogue the cutting and laying of stones, a coating, or even the joints to be drawn. The title therefore refers to the structure and integration of different elements, but also to a small personal notebook, the calepin, in which to write anything and everything, higgledy-piggledy and without hierarchy. With the series of Mosaïques, Marielle Paul carried out a playful, somewhat mischievous calepinage. These walls with Aztec overtones are composed of very diverse elements and moreover are equipped with legs! The rigour of calepinage has been put of out joint: the Mosaïques wander or rotate on themselves like treadmills… Nouvel horizon (New Horizon), as the name suggests, features paintings articulated around a horizontal line which separates two territories with contrasting hues. Botanical motifs or “electrical” vibrations with assertive graphics develop above these planes of colour. Their dynamism brings about movement and temporality. […]