Picking up fallen branches from the neighbourhood, Marie Elena Grandio has created a spectacular two-dimensional golden tree of her dream.
A photographer from Switzerland, Marie Elena Grandio has spent three weeks as artist-in-residence at Tasmai, a Centre for Art and Culture, in Puducherry to exhibit different sculptures on the theme of ecology. “I went to Auroville’s Botanical Garden to pick up beautiful branches fallen on the ground and some from the neighbourhood,” says Ms. Grandio.
A graduate of the photography school of Vevey, Switzerland, her work — which is mainly in black and white — is classical in style. “Branches are not as photogenic as leaves and trees. I thought photography would not be the right medium to bring out its beauty. Hence, I started doing two-dimensional sculpture,” she says.
With leaves brought from Switzerland, she has created her tree. Through art work, she has also highlighted people’s negligence towards protecting environment and the greed in accumulating wealth through trees. There is a blue tree with plastic papers and a silver tree indicating wealth. The art gallery has also given space to showcase the passion of this Swiss photographer. There is a photogram of leaves of ‘improbable families’ exhibited as a tribute to the British biologist, Anna Atkins, considered the first woman photographer.
“Forests, trees, leaves and branches are my preferred subjects,” she says.
A selection of pictures taken in New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Switzerland are exhibited at Tasmai. She continues to practise the photography printed on silver paper and manually developed in the dark room.
