Ballroom Gallery
Koningstraat 119 - 123 / Rue Royale 119 -123, 1000 Brussel, Belgium
In her abstract drawings Todorova strives for a certain isolation of the viewer – a reduction of sensory stimuli in favour of a pure confrontation with the imagination. She compares it to staring into the sun for too long: you see black and colourful spots, distortions; shapes and images become more difficult to distinguish in a kind of dizzying mirage.
In her studio, Nadia Naveau often collects and finds fragments, small items or parts of objects; elements of unfinished thoughts. She brings them together into three-dimensional collages. It is her way of thinking: with memory, association and play. Clay is her main material: she uses it to sketch ideas, which may or may not be given a more 'final' elaboration. She often plays with the perception of materials, something rarely really is what we think we see. In terms of content, Naveau finds crossovers between art historical influences and pop culture (she makes references to figures from Greek mythology, the Baroque and presentations in archaeological museums, but also to The Simpsons and Disney).
Naveau distances herself from an academic method (the strictly defined sequence of ideas, drawn sketches and sculpted and glazed final results). The artist's liberation occurs at the breaking point of conformity and finding a method all of one’s own. During the creation process, the clay often takes the lead: the image itself will evoke certain associations or coincidences.
For the first time in her career, Naveau created a fountain, and here too breaks with convention. Her fountain is not monumental; nor is the jet of water spectacularly splashing. The image of a sleeping figure is rather endearing, small and intimate. It tempts the viewer to approach gently (like a sneaky voyeur), rather than step back to admire the fountain in its full glory.
The water’s sound is crucial: the most static art form, sculpture, is set in motion with this living element. The soft but continuous rippling can be heard throughout the exhibition and thus provides not only an additional (possibly even predominant) sensory stimulus, but also an activating and connecting sound wave. An echo of the water seeps through the marble-like textures of Todorova's works.
The spiral has long played a leading role in Todorova's work and is subtly reappearing from time to time. The geometric shape could symbolize the introspective aspect of her work, which engages directly with the viewer's imagination. In this new context, it can also echo Naveau's work; as a metaphor for the play of memories and associations in (looking at) her images.
In the very free and fluid symbiosis between Todorova's drawings and Naveau's sculptures, both artists find an interesting look at their own work; a new layer of perception and meaning; a mental note. The joint exhibition Note to Self highlights points of contact between the artists (such as the sculptural potential of drawing and the sketchiness of clay) and allows the works, in their total freedom, to complement each other. This text can merely be an attempt to put into words why both oeuvres function so well together aesthetically. Their connection does not arise on an academic or rational level, but in an intuitive, emotional togetherness. Their mutual conversation is reflected in the unique, demarcated space of the gallery and reveals reverberating echoes. In this aesthetic echo, new openings arise to the imagination of the viewer and possibly also of the artists themselves.
Tamara Beheydt, April 2022
