Pascale Marchesini-Arnal – Anthropomorphic Apparitions

By Caroline Canault.

Her sculptures work on expression by removing themselves from the actual figure. Men, centaurs, and other strange cavaliers populate her imaginary worlds. Their fragmentation troubles our perception of space and volume. They rest upon totemic postures – anthropomorphic apparitions which, in their own way, re-examine identity. This re-dimensioned humanity turns the body into an authentic space for questioning.

Empty places invite us to scrutinize what lies on the other side of the material. The expression on the faces we can make out, through the gaps in the material, carry within them a crypted meaning that each of us is invited to decipher. Free to circulate from one reality to another, we open up other points of view here and there, to comprehend the attitudes, postures, and expressions of these figures.

The sculptures are created using bronze, plaster, or paper. In fact, the most fascinating aspect of this artist’s work is how she puts these materials to test, subjects them to as much as the human body. Her creative strength stands out through the obvious presence/absence of her figure’s expressiveness