Elisabeth Piquet

Small and sensitive semi-abstract works

Born in France, Elisabeth Piquet's extensive travels throughout Europe and Africa have strongly influenced the work of this St. Martin artist

Small and sensitive, these semi-abstract works are evocative of the sea and the markets of the West Indies

The frames, always commented on for their beauty, are "recycled" driftwood and crafted by local woodworkers

For this series of work, Elisabeth wanted to "mix" the five elements of Chinese medicine (wood, earth, water, fire and metal) with the regions of the world in which she has lived: West Africa, Morocco, south of France and the Caribbean.

Each element is represented by a colour:

Wood = brown and green
Earth = ochre
Water = indigo, grey
Fire = red
Metal = white (the energy)

Of these five elements, metal is the most abstract and she has represented it mainly with stones or a line breaking the image in the middle. "This could also be the kundalini - the energy of the body while doing yoga," Elisabeth says.

Her technique involved using natural pigments found in the south of France (Provence) in a sort of "Colorado Canyon" area. She affixes both the silk paper and the linen to board. The linen works use acrylic as well.

"The writings sometimes mean something: perhaps a poem connected to the "spirit" of the element represented or perhaps nothing (like the Arabic "style" writings which have no meaning and are not real Arabic letters. Both styles, nevertheless, are very important to me as writing is important in life: writing equals traditions, literature, etc.," she points out.

EP23

EP33

EP24

EP21

EP26

EP28