A word that resonates in both Dutch and French.

 

In Dutch, STRAAT means the street. A point of origin, a place where people cross paths, meet, and where life unfolds.

In French, STRATE refers to the layers accumulated over time, leaving its mark.

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In this series, these two words speak to one another, tracing a path, a story. This is the story of a part of my origins. It begins in the village of Hoofdplaat, in the Netherlands, a few hundred years ago, travels through Belgium, passes through Lille, Paris, crosses France and continues today in the southwest of France. So many places passed through, inhabited, lived in, each one building the strata of a family memory.

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At the root of this work lie genealogical research, collected documents, dates, names, places and addresses, but also journeys made to see, to feel, to know. Layers upon layers accumulated, lives that cross and run alongside one another, each one leaving its mark on the next, in a continuity that is both individual and inherited.

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This series questions family memories that are often buried, those invisible strata, those sometimes unknown origins, those stories that are passed down and continue to act upon us.

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Each piece in this series is made in wood. Some will see itineraries, tracings or cartographies; others will see stories built through the succession of layers that accumulate, stack, constitute themselves and carry us forward.

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Each piece in this series is available for acquisition. For any enquiry regarding availability or pricing, please use the contact form.