Mathilde Morant // ink and watercolor

// watercolor // artist : Mathilde Morant //

• 30x30 cm format
  
• technique: ink and watercolor
  
• framed

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SALE IN STORE (MORLAIX) AND DELIVERY TO PARIS ( BY APPOINTMENT ) ONLY

Volcanic eruptions are like the Northern Lights or the waterfalls that Iceland has in abundance: they attract tourists in droves, both local and foreign, thousands of images circulate, but how can one convey the telluric force rumbling beneath one's feet, the rustling of particles in suspension and constant movement, the crashing of aquatic eddies?

Having visited Fagradalsfjall at the wrong time, in November 2022, when the eruption was dormant and the site deserted after weeks of overcrowding, I can testify to the difficulty of describing a landscape that appeals to all the senses: the chaos of lava that disturbs the perception of volumes and distances, the unusual smell that goes down to the throat, the breath of a wind that knocks you over at the corner of a path and buzzes in the ears, the granularity of the ground that mistreats even the thickest soles but can be soft under the hand, and... something more, this ^6th sense that envelops all the others, something like the vague impression that the earth tolerates our discreet presence but could well change its mind at any moment.

How can we account for this when the overabundance of drone images wants us to believe that we are there?

It is by taking a step aside, outside of the flat illustration, that Mathilde Morant's ink and watercolor drawings touch on something right: a subtle range of blacks, the sharpness of molten lava, the dry edge of rocky contours, the play of the whole range of textures between full and empty... losing oneself in the black and finding nuances there.

Drawn on site, this short series is part of the author's practice, which is not lacking in audacity: Mathilde Morant has been pursuing a slightly crazy project for 5 years, bringing together each of the island's 133 lighthouses to create a watercolor portrait of them.

Pascale Thomas, August 2023