Love is… the message.
Guest of honour at the 18th PCC, Stephanie Marie Roos is the author of an abundant body of work that resonates in every way with the theme of this year’s event: ‘Writings, images, messages’. Her work explores the iconic power of images as symbols of identity, cultural references and means of protest.
Born in Germany in 1971, Stephanie Marie Roos does not describe herself as a political artist. However, her work as a whole is marked by an observation of the times – gender issues, the demands of oppressed groups, the rise of the far right and ultraliberalism all feature in her creations. These are all phenomena that she captures through iconographic research and immersive analysis of photographs, in which she succeeds marvellously in capturing the significant details. Describing her approach as groping and iterative, through repeated exposure to the images that serve as her models, she reproduces with virtuosity in small-scale human figures the meaning conveyed by a gesture, an accessory, an item of clothing…
Between the ‘I’ and the ‘we’, Stephanie Marie Roos says she is fascinated by the complexity of individuals as socio-cultural beings. While the figures she creates are archetypal in scope, she is far from wishing to reinforce stereotypes. What interests her, on the contrary, is expressing ‘in the manner of a kaleidoscope’ the multiple facets of a person. Between self-image and social expectations, between the frantic desire to belong and the search for an identity, how do we define ourselves? Underneath the determined or elusive appearance of these figures we can read a certain cultural determinism, as well as the vulnerability that arises from these tensions.
It is precisely with this fine attention to detail that Stephanie Marie Roos invites the viewer to observe her works. In a realism that is only apparent, where the artist’s hand is still visible and the use of colour selective and meaningful, she creates the conditions for both empathy and questioning. Her figures, with their often diverted gazes, seem endowed with a mysterious presence, vibrant with an inner life that nevertheless eludes us.
Guided tour by the artist
Sunday 15 September, 10 am – 11.30 am
Free admission, subject to availability.
3. Maison Pertin
Rue Ancienne 63
1227 Carouge
022 300 07 18
www.ceramique-bruckner.ch