Méditerranée 2017, 2018
Sahara 2017, 2019.
Pencil, pen felt, ink and printed paper on Canson paper 200 g/m².
Each: 42 × 59 cm (16.5 × 23.2 in).
Contemporary drawing Art fair Drawing Now,
Carreau du Temple, Paris, 2019.
Méditerranée 2017: This drawing, inspired by the maritime map of the Mediterranean Sea, includes ghostly presences of bodies and labels indicating various numbers. Indeed, no one agrees on the number of deaths and missing at sea during crossings to Europe, undertaken in dangerous conditions. Various organizations and associations are trying to identify them, but the results (printed on the labels) vary widely depending on the sources and systems of reporting and calculation. Bodies seem to float or disappear underwater, reminding us that before being numbers, they were real people who had lost their lives in dramatic circumstances.
Sahara 2017: Contrary to what one might think — but it is so rarely mentioned —, even though it is extremely difficult to count, the number of deaths and missing persons in the desert is estimated by the International Organization for Migration to be at least twice the number of deaths at sea. The numbers printed on the labels are the only ones known. Abandoned by their smugglers or fallen from trucks, or immobilized in their sanded or damaged car, migrants' bodies quickly disappear, drying up and gradually buried in the sand that moves permanently, depending on the wind and the formation of the dunes.
