The sky is an essential element in the history of the work of Corinne Mercadier. In her last series, “The Sky Begins Here,” the action takes place in Paris on the roofs of prestigious monuments. Mythical persons, hanging objects, an atmosphere soaked in poetry revisit the symbolism of space and time. In Paris and Meudon, the Paris Observatory plays a key role in the work of the artist.
Le ciel commence ici
“Since 2014, I have been working on a series of photographs taken from the roofs of exceptional buildings. Since the start of the set ‘The Sky Begins Here,’ I thought that a key part should be taken from the roofs of the Paris Observatory. I was lucky enough to be able to do this, and to discover these remarkable sites, which have become the background for photography.
“The sky plays a key role in the history of my work. The constellations, the symbolic organization of interstellar space, are constantly in my mind and have nourished my photographs for a long time. Far from a scientific approach, it constitutes rather a poetic, plastic and metaphysical view of space. Art is my way of giving form to the unknown and the infinite, and so I find my place and my life, here and now.
“Thus, the topography of places and their history link here and elsewhere, and lead me to views that establish themselves gradually. Dancers and objects thrown in the air fix themselves on the paper: I draw them in a notebook, I make objects and costumes. Then I start the picture-taking, a game of happenstance and chance.
“The people in the images are mythical: the child, the young girl, the masked man, the ghost … sometimes disturbing. Photographic immobility enhances the impression of an apparition.
“As time goes by, I am accompanied not only by them, but a lot by Dürer, Kubrick, Spilliaert, Poe, Ligeti.
