Juliette Sallin
Remembering the Sea II
2020
silk, silk dyes and plant dyes, brass
8,3 x 21 x 11 inches
This hanging sculpture is a tribute to the sensory memories of my childhood during the Mediterranean holidays: the enveloping sun, the gentle breeze, the taste of salt on my skin and the surrounding flora were an experience I still keep in my body. Spending my days as much in water as on land, the terrestrial fauna and flora merge with the aquatic one: the corals change into bushes, the algae into coastal weeds, foxgloves into shells. Everything is alive, sensual and serene. In order to make all these sensations as true as possible, I chose to use silk satin. The silk is dyed by hand, some parts with plants (beetroot, madder root, and avocado skin) to give a more organic and complex color impression. Silk satin is one of the most pleasant fabrics and makes the dyes even more intense. The elements, all cut by hand, are assembled into a composition that blurs the line between vegetal and animal recollections.
I selected this sculpture because it represents a moment of my childhood when everything felt free and serene. In these very strange and stressful times, this artwork offers a moment of calm and contemplation that may help to push our mental chatter into the background and let our feelings guide our experience of the moment.