Day in day out

My elder daughter Camille Allinne was born the morning after Mitterrand was elected President (05/11/1981). She'd be 26 by now. She died in her parents arms. There is no sadder experience, as parents. Those who reject their children, or curse them for whichever reason, or merely scorn to cheer them up day in day out, they just don't know what they are doing.

I designed this abstract tapestry ("blue thorny lace", 182 x 250 cm) in 2001, to celebrate Camille's posthumous 20th birthday, as she was swept away by mucoviscidosis in a matter of days. Nobel Prize Elias Canetti wrote : "Sa douleur la plus profonde, chacun doit la garder secrète" (one must keep one's deepest pain secret). He is right. But when I was commissionned this tapestry, I just couldn't. Anyway, the chromatic symbols are no secret at all, here : red is for love and physical pain ; blue is for the serene skies and the bluesy moods as well ; black is for the mourning, with its the sudden lack of any light. Square shapes could be a symbol of reason fighting emotions. But emotions always win in the end. And I'm glad they do.