19/02/2020
Last weekend's publication in De Standaard.
After traveling to the pristine lands of Iceland and Namibia, Maroesjka Lavigne’s interest in the geological and aesthetic qualities of our earth have grown, specifically in the spectrum of colors it demonstrates. Fascinated by the earth’s changing terrain, Lavigne travelled to locations including regions of Argentina, Chile, China, and America’s West where she looked at color and form to capture the passing of time in environments that may soon disappear - leaving only traces behind. In the Painted Hills, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, among other locations, Lavigne studied the struggles of the landscape that are evident in the collision of tectonic plates, the composition of a volcano’s eruption and the tactility and texture of polychromatic mountain ranges which are shaped by history. For the artist, nature is unconquerable, and all around us. It can be seen in a narrow dried up ravine finding its way through a pastel canvas of rust-colored hills, or in the flutter of a majestic pink spoonbill against a dark rocky bottomed pool. Maroesjka Lavigne’s non traditional approach to landscape photography reworks the foreground, background, surface, depth, subject and setting in stunning images. They are tenderly attuned to the story of the lands in vibrant and vast landscapes, delicate veins of leaves, weathered car doors and unforgettable animal sightings. In the words of the artist: “When you take a picture in a beautiful place, you have to realize that nature isn’t the background for your photograph. Rather, you are its prop.”
Text by Robert Mann Gallery
