About

Olivier Jery

 

Born in Besançon (1965), France

Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium

 

Part of my practice stems from observing the shifting states of perception: a sensation, a persistent image, an experience, and their subtle points of transition.

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My work is not linear. A work may begin with an image or a sensation, but also with a material that draws me in without my yet knowing what it will become. I may leave it in the studio for some time before beginning to handle it. Folding, unfolding, spreading, hanging, arranging, assembling: the material then becomes part of the emergence of the form.

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In my painting practice, I find myself speaking less about painting than about colour. I work with it through layers, mixtures, nuances, thickness and density, allowing the support itself to contribute to its construction.

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For several years, I have deliberately limited my palette to a range built around the colours of flesh. Starting from red, blue and ochre, I develop an ever-changing range, from caressed flesh to wounded flesh, from softness to injury. Each mixture is created in the moment, through a balance between intention, control and accident.

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Recovered materials occupy a particular place in my three-dimensional work. Already carrying a history and a function, they lead me from the singular towards something more open. Through their handling and combination, the work gradually emerges.

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The images that nourish my work are not intended to be literally narrated. Through colour and abstraction, I try to draw out what has affected me — a presence, a tension, a sensation — and shift it into a language that is no longer documentary.

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Paintings and objects thus belong to a single continuum. A work born from a painful experience may coexist with one that is gentle or contemplative. This coexistence is essential: it reflects the human experience, made up of contradictory sensations that can sometimes be felt simultaneously.

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I seek forms open enough to leave room for the viewer’s own experience, with just enough precision for something to be conveyed.