Y.
For this three-day event Michèle Matyn has been instigated by the 2 months the artist has spent as Artist in Residence together with her two sons in Andalusia. Here they lived and worked as a three-part collective. Work, surroundings and (family)life were practically inextricable during this time. The direct physical surroundings of the Andalusian nature, the Spanish culture and daily life that took place in these surroundings all played a significant part in the development of the work.The Y-forms of the centuries-old cork and oak trees that cover the hills are reminiscent of a figure that raises its hands to the sky. At the same time it embodies a trinity: two come together and continue as one, or one splits up in two. ‘whY’? these trees seemed to ask Matyn. Responding to this question she tried to find answers in a direct interconnection with the material: the trees, the clay, through drawing and photography and in the working and living with Ewoud and Bernhard. Matter, life and work all became part of a larger search for the answers to the question Y.
The exhibition space of 1646 will be a reflection of all this material research, where all the senses will be triggered. Textile, foam, pudding, clay, a construction of a slide demanding of the viewer to make a choice when it splits up in two tracks. The complete work presented here contains many references, not just to nature and its materials but also to the Spanish catholic culture with regard to the worship of Mary. The ritual culture that surrounds the Lady of Sorrows smoothly integrates in the hodgepodge of this space.
The three-day event starts with a performance on Friday evening. In the two following days visitors can immerse themselves into this installation of projections, photography, ceramics and textile.
Text: Dyveke Rood