“Such desire to bring out unusual sensations lies within the exquisite knowledge of techniques for applying varnish, shellac and gold leaf, as well as in the knowledge of the metaphorical value of calligraphy applied to various writings and epochs. Coming from this ancestral wisdom Christine Arveil knew how to recreate a very unique artistic universe dominated by the telluric forces of thrust and attraction, forces still present in the imaginary of the islands.”
~Gabriela Canavilhas, Minister of Culture, Lisbon
The stone drawings series consists in close to 200 pencil drawings of one same basalt stone spanning over several years. The drawings were installed side by side on wall-mounted identical steel brackets. They are a study of resilience as well as a reflection on the concept of realism in drawing:
“Each drawing, involving several hours of intensely focused observation, is an exacting representation of a detail of the stone that caught my sight. At every moment, the light shifts, or the movement of the eye modifies the perception. Constantly noticing new details as one is represented, the experience descends into fractal geography. At that level of precision, the exact rendering of the whole stone becomes impossible, and the pursuit hallucinating.”
