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                                            The Unseen (L'Invisible')

 

A strong element which has permeated a large part of the works of Sergine André, right from the beginning of her artistic career, has been that of the ‘invisible’ – those beings who's presence we feel, but who we cannot easily see.  The title given to her very first exhibition at Petionville in Haiti in 1996 and a theme and style of painting which has featured strongly ever since. These are intimate and highly emotive paintings in which the presence of spectral figures often barely visible at first glance, seem to tremble beneath the canvas trying to capture our attention and inviting us to to acknowledge their presence, simultaneously both unsettling and playful.  Djinn achieves these works of haunting beauty through the use of layered colours, transparencies, subtle reliefs and texturing.

The paintings are rooted in the artist’s upbringing in the rural Artibonite valley, where human beings often seemed to be outnumbered by spirits (‘lwas’ in Haitian vaudou), however, another key driving force for the series, is to bring to our attention the injustices felt by those who pass through life but remain unseen (migrants without papers, exiles or those who have fallen through the cracks of society) rendering then unable to fulfil their potential and fully participate in life.  Their inability to access education, to receive health services, respect and dignified employment are often unable to live out their dreams of a fulfilling existence and are effectively rendered ‘invisible’.  The artist’s body of work is powerfully driven by empathy for these forgotten people and is her way of asking us to enquire about the injustices that lie behind their treatment, without imposing on the viewer any more explicit message. The result are works that convey this message through a haunting, sometimes troubling, but mysterious and highly emotive beauty.

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