In frames of reduced dimensions the artist presents, in Kodacolor-aesthetic sketches, memories of pastimes which she then completely colours, just as one post-processes memories.
If everyone knows what memory owes to photography, what then of the memory produced by painted photography? Of the memory of an image concealed by the painting itself? Of a surface covered by a thick layer? Of a representation clothed in an experience? The act of painting the representation realises the transition from object to symbol, and enables three scraps of paper assembled in a certain order to become an object of memory. No longer an image, but a symbol.
The resulting picture has a trophy value, it is the tangible proof of a journey, the guarantee of the voyage as an experience marking the threshold of the transition to adulthood, of entry into the social world.
To bring back a singular object as proof of a formative personal experience is what the collector does when he returns from an exhibition with a treasure under his arm to share.
The paintings of Sophie Chaintrier remind us of the place and role of art in the fabric of our lives.
