Painting installation

The flames of Pathos

This year,

I want to invest in Fichti station with a larger scale painting work.

This work will refer to the fire at Fichti station during the Greek Civil War of 1946-49, where residents of the village were unjustly accused of setting it on fire and died in tragic circumstances, after being imprisoned on the island of Leros. The charcoal drawings of the prisoners of the Leros detention camp that I saw on the island gave me the idea and the desire to work this time with charcoal mixed with layers of paint. i will use this material to paint giant, twisting flames that will lick the walls, covered in cotton fabric. Then there will be mixed variations of white and black across the entire surface which will be 15 meters long. At night, the room will be bathed in the light caused by the flickering of the flames. Two points motivated my choice to invest artistically in this place: both the passion that this station conveys and the symbol of renewal that it represents. Indeed, the Peloponnese railway line will soon be restored. Finally, another element caught my attention and moved me: the flames refer both to this historical past and to the violent fires that Greece suffers every summer.

The title of my work, "Flames of Pathos", refers to a term of Greek origin, whose etymology evokes suffering and emotion, but is also a method of persuasion, through appeal, to public sentiment. I hope that this in situ work will evoke emotion in those who contemplate it while immersing themselves in it.

During the rest of the festival, the canvas will be torn from the walls and divided into different parts that can be sold to spectators on the last night. The first half of the profits will be given to the festival, and the second half will be used to cover material costs.

Laure Florençon

is a French artist, born on 14/07/76, in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon. She is Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts at the College and School of Visual Arts in Strasbourg.

Having trained as a painter, Laure also paints live models. Her painting practice comes from an amalgamation of layers, where images emerge against an abstract and often focal background, interspersed with words that appear filigree across the pictorial layers. Her painting subjects start from a subject that inspires her or that sometimes arises from a request from the sponsor himself. Then she develops it, interweaving words and images into the layers of colors I use. She likes to paint with quite intense colors on large all-round surfaces.

Her last year's festival work on live model painting is available here:

https://fichtiart.com/en/laure-florencon

The painting installation will take place at the Mycenae Railway Station, Fichti