By Alys Paola.
Life's trials can strike us suddenly and brutally, turning our existence upside down in an instant. This is what I wanted to express through my works No Damn Clue and La Chute , creations that embody my way of giving form to what is often unspeakable, of externalizing what words cannot capture.
No Damn Clue : Facing the Devastating Unexpected
In 2020, a traumatic event turned my life upside down, leaving me with a feeling of total helplessness in the face of the unpredictable. After witnessing a serious accident involving the person I loved, nightmares of crashing waves return regularly. This experience inspired No Damn Clue , where I sought to represent this emotional shock through this powerful metaphor: the tsunami. Symbol of an uncontrollable force that destroys everything in its path. The emphasis is on ignorance, on the moment just before the shock. I imagine myself absorbed in the contemplation of a beautiful white flower, completely unaware of the impending wave.
The flower thus becomes a universal symbol of human vulnerability, that illusion of security that can disappear in an instant.
The Fall : Between Dissociation and Rebirth
As a witness to the accident, I wanted to capture this rupture between reality and perception, illustrated in the visual blur of the work. This blur, which blurs the boundary between dream and reality, reflects an emotional dissociation that is common during a traumatic shock, where I felt cut off from the real world, unable to grasp the magnitude of the event. We can see objects falling into an unknown universe, a space where gravity no longer has a hold, escaping all control.
By playing with lighting and theatrical sets, I wanted to create an atmosphere that was both dramatic and ironic.
Through this work, I seek to transform the violence of the event into an image imbued with gentleness. I attempt to rewrite my memory of that terrible night, seeking to soothe the pain and transmute it into a poetic scene, thus offering a form of catharsis and personal healing.
A path to resilience
These two works are much more than simple visual representations of significant moments. They are tools for introspection and healing, a way to give concrete form to deep and complex emotions. No Damn Clue and The Fall share a common theme: that of life's trials and how they force us to evolve, to reinvent ourselves. This artistic work allowed me to confront the pain, to transcend it, and to find the strength to move forward.
It thus becomes a mirror of our inner struggles, a space where everyone can recognize themselves, and a door to the resilience that we all seek, in the face of life's upheavals.