Gisèle Tchitchiama: Luminaria

EVENT DESCRIPTION

“Luminaria” frames a quest for illumination through encounters with light, fragility and the ephemeral. For Gisèle, her multiple identities – French, African, woman, wife, mother, daughter – are woven into her interrogations. Presence and absence are at the heart of her ongoing artistic conversation which takes the audience on a journey into inner and outer landscapes.

Following the turbulent years of the pandemic, artist Gisèle Tchitchiama wanted to create an experience of hope; to share the sense of calm and light she felt with the world, to create a space to be still and to experience light.

The exhibition was inspired by the colour, poetry and delicacy of an unexpected moment on a journey from France to Dover, England last summer, Gisèle captured in a blurry landscape photo. This image became the starting point for an artistic journey that incorporates many creative and meaningful collaborations.

Reflecting on this image led Gisèle to the exhibition’s title “Luminaria” and then a song appeared. From the song came an idea for a short film. This led to a collaboration with Hong Kong based filmmaker Joanna Bowers who created a sensitive and delicate short film to go along with the song, which is included in the installation. Gisèle also envisioned her song with a cello accompaniment.

For Gisèle, this collaboration could only be with Laurent Perrin, assistant Principal Cello with the Sinfonnietta. Then the magic happened! Laurent created a suspended and beautiful score for the film, completing this leg of the journey with the soulful sound of his solo cello. For Gisèle, these collaborations with Joanna and Laurent made her vision for the exhibition a reality in a most beautiful way. Both artists possess such a delicate understanding of emotional landscapes, which perfectly compliment Gisèle’s own, partnering the playful, lightness of touch and melodic sensibility of her unique visual language that weaves its way through the exhibition space.

Fellow artist resident at HART Haus, Merryn Trevethan has curated the exhibition bringing these collaborations together with Gisèle’s delicate paintings, sculptures, works on paper and reused plastics to move the audience together on a journey through inner and outer landscapes that celebrates the ephemeral nature of light. The installation frames an encounter that captures the fragility and delicate balance we need as humans, offering hope and the possibility of “Luminaria.”

For Gisèle, Luminaria is an invitation for a voyage that emerges from the in-between; of the sky and the ground, the near and far, the inner and outer. It is a rêverie perhaps or a journey in music essential to her process, offering a precious companion and a moment of calm for the viewer.

Associated project of the French May Arts Festival 2023.

Preferably by appointment atelier@thehart.com.hk.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Gisèle Tchitchiama is a French painter and collage artist, investigating the allure of freedom in her pictorial and abstract universe, and gives it form by examining the relationship between colour and brush stroke. Tchitchiama continually tries to clarify the transcendence of identity, an elegant fluidity in which a new sense of peace and gentleness is created. She concentrates on employing a powerfully evocative dreamscape, using distinctive strokes of paint that are like shadows of both force and lightness, creating a poetry between her profound use of colours, the material used and the act of creating. Tchitchiama invites us to take a moment to enter our personal cosmos of light and intimacy with oneself, inspiring those who engage with her work, to rediscover the beauty of humanity within oneself.

Tchitchiama has held many solo exhibitions and group exhibitions, exhibited extensively internationally, including solo exhibitions at Les Cléias; Petal of Hope, Les Cléias x Gisèle Tchitchiama, Hong-Kong, 2020; Le Louvre; The Circle of Life Project, Art shopping, Paris, France, 2019; Culture Club, Light up the other side, Le French May associated program, Hong Kong, 2019; and The Hong Kong Banker's Club in 2015.

She has published two titles featuring her collage and painting works, and was commissioned to create an artwork for the cover of the Hong Kong Chef recipes book, Clara’s dream. In 2022 she was co-curator of Transversal, Spring Showcase exhibition at HART Haus. She has been living and working in Hong Kong since 2005.