Nouvelle Laurentine / Hors les Murs manifestations de la Maison Laurentine

The deer antler is a representation of the abundance of life. The transformation of the antler from solid bone to hollow beeswax renders it a delicate, rarefied icon that draws attention to the assumed sense that, here in Aubepierre-sur-Aube, one is a component of all that is the environment.

The delicate nature of the material that composes the icon has rendered it ephemeral. As a manner of preserving the analogy, the beeswax icon must be maintained but only if the idea resonates within the hearts and minds of others. To this, the more than sixty beeswax icons are placed, with permission, in selected public and private outdoor locations, including courtyards, on the sidewalk, beside the river, in gardens and on the church within the village of Aubepierre-sur-Aube. Once in place, susceptible to the elements, it is up to individuals as to whether the icon is maintained or not.

My interest remains in how art is not so much a reflection of life but rather a part of it, finding the separation unnecessary. I work from the principle of the pragmatic aesthetic, which refers to the intrinsic and evolving appearance of things, objects, and structures found in our environments, appearances that are inherently dynamic due to the passage of time. I am fascinated by the appearance that has both been created by abandoned attention and by the maintenance that is performed to reverse signs of neglect – the dichotomy between maintenance and deterioration – the inevitable, usual, predictable reaction of one to the other.