Eloïse Lega

Lives and works in Bruxelles, Belgium

Artist statement

My artistic work emerges from ordinary elements of everyday life. I transform familiar objects or create new ones, focusing particularly on what they already contain: habits, gestures, memories. These forms subtly shift reality to reveal a sensitive dimension. For example, a receipt printer is transformed into a device that dispenses compliments to take away. Plasters feature phrases that people have received from their parents – phrases that have comforted, touched or appeased them. They extend these acts of care by transposing them into a more intimate and emotional dimension. Matches are engraved with the name, age, country of origin and cause of death of migrants who tried to reach Europe or remain there. This act of engraving extends into a participatory performance in which visitors are invited to recite a passage and light a match. In these objects, language becomes a simple material. It is inscribed, circulates, and reveals itself in accessible forms. My work is anchored in a focus on others. I am interested in objects, their use and words — those that remain, those that leave a mark, those that repair — seeking to make them visible through simple forms that can be activated or taken away. This act of putting things into circulation is essential: my pieces are designed to continue to live on beyond the exhibition, as close as possible to those who encounter them. As with my postcards, which accompany each of my projects and are extended into a postal newsletter for...

Artwork