In Japanese, the etymology of the world photography– shashin– brings us back to the notion of “copying reality” while, in French, the Greek roots of the same word signify “to paint with light”. Yuki Onodera’s work finds itself in the middle of these two concepts. She tries to capture reality all while illuminating the unreality of the 21st century. She considers photography not as a simple image, but as an artistic object, a creative work. This creation involves both a phase of conception and composition and a phase of execution, which, all while being perfectly mastered, leaves space for the unpredictability of the immediate environment, coming closer to the musical impromptus made famous by Schubert, Chopin, or Liszt.
In fact, Yuki Onodera looks for and takes on a piece of unpredictability in her work through numerous experiences that she introduces in the creative process. “Each photograph is the result of deformations and small, voluntary movements that insert themselves in the information circuit,” wrote author Evence Verdier in 2004. Yuki Onodera’s creations are the fruit of minute technical manipulations, at the moment of the shot or in the darkroom– she makes her own prints– where she does not hesitate to invent new processes. Her bizarre universe redefines known limits with the help of the juxtapositions of mountains, collages, materials, plays of light and color. The ensemble finishes by transforming reality into a visual universe obeying the rules of the imaginary and of poetry. In her exhibition titled Impromptus on view at Galerie Pierre-Yves Caër, Yuki Onodera is presenting eight series of photographs.
Yuki Onodera, Impromptus
October 13 through November 25, 2017
Galerie Pierre-Yves Caër
7, rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth
75003 Paris
France
