Rochelle Goldberg , May to July 2017
Born in 1984 in Vancouver, she lives and works in Berlin and New York.
One of the recurring principles of Rochelle Goldberg's facilities is the association of organic matter with complex metal structures, on which Rochelle Goldberg fixes seeds, natural fibers, food, plants that can sometimes mimic an ecosystem.
This affixing of natural elements on an artificial device is a way of trying to destabilize these categories, to draw one towards the other, to focus attention on an unstable frontier where the virtual and reality coexist.
This association between organic elements and manufactured objects forces each of these elements to slide from the status of ephemeral to that of durable, or symbolizes different types of movements from malleability to mutation.
Despite its rigidity, bent steel allows a wide range of configurations. The very strong presence of these reinforcements structures the arrangement of the organic forms that are integrated into these precise devices. Thus, Rochelle Goldberg uses it essentially in two ways, either as an "active armature" or as a "porous threshold", acting as a blurred border between two types of spaces. The artist also tries to establish a link between her work and the spectator.
During her residency in Saché, Rochelle Goldberg collected a large number of ancient objects, which she chose to integrate into her installations in order to pursue a new path in her artistic research.
In her work, Rochelle Goldberg uses living natural materials: seeds, natural fibres, ceramic elements, unrefined oils, snake skin prints... that she presents suspended, laid on the ground, or contained in a metal structure. All these elements systematically integrate a device composed of complex metal blades and rods.
These metal elements are used by Rochelle Goldberg both as containers (frames) and as passage marks (threshold). This notion of frontier is at the heart of the problematic developed during her residency. This is translated in her installations by the use of everyday objects that have several functions, such as the folding screen, which can be both a piece of furniture and a decorative element, corresponding perfectly to this notion of frontier, of delimitation between what can be seen and what cannot be seen.
However, behind a folding screen it is always possible to challenge the viewer, inviting him to cross the frame that marks the boundary between his works and the space of the studio, reminding him of the interconnection that exists between people and the objects that make up our daily lives.
Rochelle Goldberg's installations can be seen as complex paintings, almost theatrical stagings, sometimes with references to mythology or religion.