LABYRINTH OF STONES (1990…)

A labyrinth is a construction, usually built outdoors, made up of corridors defined by high walls that create intricate and complicated pathways that unfold before the visitor as they try to reach a goal: the centre of the labyrinth. Traditionally, labyrinth paths are formed with hedges made of boxwood, laurel, or cypress. We can also find them built with stones, or more daring ones made of glass and mirrors, with the added difficulty of transparency between corridors. In fact, any material capable of separating one passage from another will do. Some labyrinths have even been made with bales of straw.

The symbolism of the labyrinth is manifold: it can represent a journey, spiritual or intellectual, an overcoming of challenges and obstacles we face in life, or even a process of transformation and rebirth. When one reaches the heart of the labyrinth after much anguish and disorientation, a paradox arises: now one must find the way out. Once again, the wanderer must navigate convoluted paths full of visual deceptions in order to finally achieve the challenge posed by the labyrinth.

Labyrinth of Stones does not seek to present a collection of traditional labyrinths, nor to create a sort of catalogue. It simply aims to deceive the viewer, to entangle their spatial perception of the images—what in French is called trompe-l’œil, “to deceive the eye.” The photographs do not depict labyrinthine constructions, but rather buildings made of stone. The perspective used in creating the images causes the overlapping of spaces, surfaces, and openings to make the viewer doubt the true arrangement of the photographed space, giving rise to a visual labyrinth.

MEASUREMENTS: 40 X 40 cm

NUMBER OF IMAGES: 18 (en progrès)

40 x 40 copies on paper 50 x 60

Hahnemühlemat paper. Giclée copy