HERITAGE//2013

-50x60cm &73x90cm

-«Héritage» consiste en une série de portraits symboliques s'inspirant des différents attributs de mon héritage familial, partagé entre l'orient et l'occident et plus précisément entre la France et l'Algérie. Traitée à la manière de la tradition picturale des natures mortes, j'ai choisi de mettre en avant des personnages au visage recouvert,. La nature et différents objets significatifs de rites et coutumes prennent l'ascendant sur l'individu afin de poser une interrogation sur la construction identitaire, dans un jeu de ré interprétation de la transmission culturelle et familiale. En jouant sur l'accumulation, la profusion voire l'exagération et la proximité des objets, les sujets se transforment en nature morte semblables à des totems ou emblèmes familiaux et mettent en avant mon questionnement sur la complexité de l'identité à travers l'héritage familial.

The Heritage series is a group of symbolic portraits that display masked characters, based on my family. Here, unlike in classic portraits, natural elements and various ritual objects from different rites and customs take over the visual space usually occupied by the individual. Objects such as jewels, feathers, branches, flowers, hats and decorative ribbons symbolize different concepts, including seduction, femininity, youth, memory, struggle, life and death. By playing with the accumulation of symbols and with the abundance of accessories, the subjects become still life-like totems or family crests. With this, I aim to explore the workings of heritage transmission, and depict the complexity of family legacies. The photographs can be grouped into three symbolical categories. Firstly, there is “traces of nature”; which includes elements of uncultivated land, rough nature, and flower arrangements, evoking death and rebirth. Secondly, there is the “fight”; which is a reinterpretation of the various struggles and honors of war. Thirdly and finally, there is the concept of “femininity” located in the context of both French and Algerian cultures; sometimes understood as a dichotomy, sometimes as a sign of diversity.

MARIE HUDELOT