The series brings together works that combine appropriation and intervention in old photographs – a hallmark of the artist's poetics – and the use of fabric supports, in this case: embroidered or crocheted cloth. Smiling or intent, close or distant, the female faces appear in the center of these delicate cloths, submitted to clipping and collage by sewing, in addition to, eventually, elements such as pearls, earrings and adornments. If there is an undeniable desire for perpetuity behind the photographic image, Rochele warns us that it too can fade, if not extinguished. And then, according to her works, what would remain? Cloth? Embroidery? Earrings? Pearls? Are these elements the most important? The artist comments: “This work highlights one of the issues of the photographic image: its inability to retain time. The bet on eternalization is made through photography, but it is incapable of crystallizing existence, incapable of remaining. The memory or vestige desired by the portrayed has a deadline. Images also age and also die.”

 

Text by Paula Ramos, curator, researcher and art critic.

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