Valérie Belin France, 1964

The result of the superimposition is a surprising image that evokes a particularly sophisticated form of overlay. This photograph has a hybrid nature which places the subject between the organic and the sublime. The Baroque style has also been an inspiration for me. I'm especially interested in flowers as imagery because to me, they're an ideal 'baroque pattern'. 

- Valérie Belin

Created exclusively for The Lapis Press, White Narcissus in Orange (Colour Wonder) expands on Belin’s fascination with perception and reality. This edition explores Belin’s finesse at confounding the object as subject and at creating textural depth on a two-dimensional surface. White Narcissus in Orange (Colour Wonder) emerges from carefully composed layers of images - a riot of flowers, a face, text and figures float gracefully, unified with a bewitching elegance that cajoles the eye to discover the intrinsic deeper meanings. Using her Black Eyed Susan series as a starting point, Belin’s layering of imagery alludes to the transparencies and reflections found in her early work. The beautifully impassive face references her work with models, mannequins, bodybuilders and even magicians and the flowers woven throughout recall her still lifes, object studies, bouquets or her Morrocan bride series.

Early in her career, Belin photographed specific views of reality. As her work evolved, her technique has refined to where she now employs light and pigment with the dexterity of a painter. Here, an inspired gesture by the artist has shifted the focus, placing background as the now central element of the work. Belin uses the realities we glimpse on the surface of her art to shape and re-create yet another reality (or is it only illusion?)

 

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