Virginie Combel

Virginie Combel is a French artist

Why call upon thought, upon concept, when one can act and react with instinct? In a fusion but ambiguous relationship with Nature, Virginie Combel mimes and mediates her relationship with the World through synthetic materials or so-called “poor” materials, according to encounters and the sensation that arises from their contact.

Polystyrene, resin, latex allow her to transform the real into symbol, into a sign of “it has been” into “it could be.” Soap, paper, wood, pigment, fabrics connect with the natural element, incarnation of pure sensation. Thus, because the materials Virginie uses are permeable to change, they are psychologically effective. From floor to ceiling, she occupies the space as one takes possession of a room. Suspended and light, or spread out and heavy, the elements respond to each other, mixing ascent and fall. In a way, Virginie manipulates “the soft and its forms”; she piles up and lets the material hang, which ends its course on the floor, knots and unties…

In a borderline relationship with the formless, she gives matter an anthropomorphic character and remains faithful to the figuration that surrounds us: a paper walrus over two meters long sprawls on the floor, heavy bees hover in the void, while a cascade of piled-up furniture recalls a messy attic.