‘Dance is truly ephemeral. It is like a temporary drawing; it disappears when the movement ends.’ – Ophelia Jacarini

A trained dancer, artists Ophelia Jacarini’s work is a cross-section of multiple art forms. Her new project, Bejart, presents the viewer with ephemeral embroideries of the human body dancing, choreographed by the wind. Jacarini displays her dancing figures inside industrial, abandoned settings, open to the elements.

We caught up with Ophelia to learn more about her multi-disciplinary experience, her rich understanding of art, and the inspiration behind her new work.

You’re a trained dancer. Can you tell us a bit more about your journey into art. How does your background in dance translate and inform your art?

After almost seventeen years of ballet and three years of yoga, these two practices have influenced my life and my art.

I feel an intrinsic connection to ballet. Whether it is a longing for grace of my own or an admiration of ballet’s finesse and grandeur, it speaks to me on a personal level.

Ballet is an art form created by the movement of the human body. Dance is not fixed but can leave a lasting impression on the viewer. As a performance art, dance is truly ephemeral- a term that has been defined as, ‘lasting for only a short period of time and leaving no permanent trace’. As a dance performer and spectator, I am affected by this ephemerality on a daily basis. It is the ephemerality of ballet that first started to influence my art. The intangible aspect of this art form inspires me. This is why I am now obsessed with using movements in my art installation.

In my most recent project, Bejart, I created silhouettes of dancers embroidered on a see-through fabric, hung on the ceiling of an open space. In this work, I invite the wind to become the choreographer and let my work be directed by ‘Mother Nature’. Some days it can be a strong wind that creates big movements in opposition to almost no wind and stillness on other days.

How did you create Bejart?

Each piece is created with cotton rope overlaid on a transparent fabric to create a sense of constant motion. I use a basic embroidery technique to create these dancing silhouettes.

The way I make the work is 10% of my creative process. Around 80% of it is the research I do on the chosen topic. Sometimes it takes me years before I create a piece inspired by subject I want to work on. The final 10% of the effort is the installation and exhibition.

How important is size to your work?

When I create a site-specific piece, I am inspired by a place and create a work based on the site and its context to be shown in that particular space; the audience members are often participant-observers. I create relatively big sized artworks but keep in mind that both visitors and my work can fit in the given space.

Both moving pieces and static installation works give audience members more freedom as to what they view and for what duration of time they spend observing the performers. The spectators are given the opportunity to move around the different areas of the site. It seems that this freedom would give audience members the ability to decide for themselves how long they need to view a particular segment of the performance in order to interpret the dance movement.

When it comes to movement I usually think big. But I am working on a series of female body embroidery that won’t be moving but where the shape of this female body would open itself along the series, like blooming flowers. Given the intimate aspect of this project I felt like creating relatively small sizes, around 20x15cm per pieces. So, I would say that the topic I choose to explore through my work influences my creativity and the size of the final work.

Where will Bejart travel to next?

Bejart has already been to Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia. The next stop is Mexico in July, then France and Indonesia in August.

What is your thought process when it comes to picking an exhibition venue?

I invest in abandoned and inaccessible places instead of art galleries not because I first wanted it but because I pitched this project to a bunch of galleries that were interested and finally dropped it. Let’s be honest, being an artist is not an easy journey, you have to go through frustrations and doubts.

Creating art work is more than a passion for me, it’s a need. I decided to stop looking for art galleries and do my art work where no one would stop me from doing it. This is how I started to look for interesting spaces with natural light and wind. This series shows a contrast between dead and alive (an abandoned space without life and my installation that lives and moves). It is my art that brings life to the space. I am inspired by these static walls that contrast with the moving bodies of the dancers. These walls are stuck to the floor in contradiction to the dancers that are attached to the ceiling and create a link between earth and life.

To find out more on Ophelia’s work, hover on over to www.ophelia-jacarini.com.