Explosion / Unveiling is a diptych that questions feminine identity through the notions of fragmentation and staging as a moving, plural and fundamentally elusive construction.
Inspired by the image of the disco ball, the female face in Éclatement appears fragmented. The disco ball reflects light differently depending on the angle and what it is facing; it doesn't shine despite its fragmentation, but precisely because of it. It is because it is broken into a multitude of fragments that it shines so brightly.
Here, fragmentation is not a flaw or a form of violence suffered. It refers to this female figure's capacity to adapt and modulate her identity according to contexts and perspectives. She chooses what she reveals, and in this sense remains profoundly elusive. Fragmentation becomes a condition of light, a way of fully existing without being reduced to a monolithic unity. Identity is embraced in its plurality.
Unveiling extends this reflection without resolving it. The female figure appears this time in a context of spectacle and staging. The dominant reds, the mask, the luminous halo evoke a stage, spotlights, a moment of performance. The act of unveiling is not a surrender of self, but a conscious action: the face is never fully revealed. The mask remains present, one eye stays in shadow, the hand is always covered. The unveiling is partial, orchestrated, and above all, deliberate.
The roses play a part in this staging. They become a metaphor for an identity made up of successive layers and strata. Like the rose, identity is never immediately revealed in its core. The petals accumulate, conceal, protect. They also evoke passion, femininity, sensuality—all attributes traditionally projected onto women. Here, she doesn't blend into this setting but plays with it and manipulates it, in her own way.
This diptych rejects the idea of a stable, definitive, or entirely accessible truth of identity. It is neither about losing oneself in fragmentation, nor about finding oneself fully in revelation. Shattering and Unveiling constitute two complementary movements of the same process. To fragment in order to exist in the gaze of the other. To show oneself without ever fully surrendering.
Identity then appears as a space of tension between what is shown and what remains irreducibly intimate, between brilliance and mystery.
These two works can be seen at the Kiff&Marais gallery, located at 17 rue des Gravilliers in Paris, from February 4 to 8, 2026. The opening will be held on Thursday, February 5, starting at 6 p.m.
0 comments