The artistic series I have imagined aims to raise awareness on the extinction and endangerment of species by closing the gap between the subject and the viewer. Finding itself confronted to life-size animal sculptures, the audience becomes aware of the existence of these individuals through their encounter, and thus the creatures lose their inherently abstract nature caused by geographic remoteness. These pure white polyurethane figures, on which rest origami the like of butterflies, symbols of fragility and literary magic realism, seem frozen in time like Ancient Egyptian art, to which the sculptures borrow their symmetry. Similar to a last glimmer of hope, the origami hold on to the last strengths of their animal through colour, the symbol of life, which comes in stark contrast with the monochromic nature of the sculptures. Whilst the hues are representative of the animals' true shades and environment, the white colour like a blank space draws its influence from Japanese traditional "nihonga" art, in which artists used to leave a part of the canvas empty for the onlooker to be able to project his thoughts and contemplate his soul. The artistic objective is to confer an intellectual reality to these beings, so as to raise empathy, understanding and stir viewers into action. All sculptures are editions of seven.
