Photographer Claire Artemyz is interested in the traces left by living beings over an extended period of time, from prehistory to the present day. These traces may be the result of various natural processes (fossilization, cleared remains), intentional bodily acts (tattooing), or evidence of vanished civilizations (statuettes, tools, jewelry, religious statuary). The aim is not to document, but to evoke sensations, emotions, and hypotheses through the use of macro photography, shallow depth of field, and chiaroscuro lighting that sculpts the surface and isolates details, reinforced by warm-cold contrasts. The result is a mysterious and poetic image, close to abstraction while remaining anchored in reality. The subject becomes a surface where blurring emerges- a living memory open to the viewer's interpretation.
The photographer sometimes creates visual paradoxes, transforming violence and pain into images of great gentleness through enveloping light and sensual textures. Claire Artemyz photographs what disturbs her or resists the gaze, imbuing her subjects with a sense of grace, even sacredness, affirming her love of life and her interest in its past and contemporary uses. Without giving way entirely to abstraction, her images retain a tangible imprint that the viewer is invited to complete.