Marielle Plaisir

Year: 2018
Medium: Mixed media, stuffed fabrics, embroideries
Size (h x w x d): 90.50 x 108 x 4.5 inches

Plaisir presents its own version of The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri's long narrative Italian poem. She brings a vision of hell and paradise from the point of view of colonized populations, in a pictorial universe where imaginaries intersect the myths of the Caribbean and the history of domination and supremacies. The pictorial universe is surrealist and invites to probe the depths of the canvas. This work is presented as a tapestry from the medieval or Renaissance period, constructed as a historical piece that relates an important historical fact. The frame is made of padded fabrics, hand-embroidered in places. Plaisir uses fabrics as an integral part of the work.

Year: 2018
Medium: Printing on wood, resin, stuffed fabrics
Size (h x w x d): 47.2 x 70.80 x 4.5 inches

Series of 3 portraits including reproductions of Renaissance portraits hung in the style of an antique salon. The selection includes freed slave Olaudah Equiano, by Joshua Reynolds; Marie - Antoinette and a prince of the Italian Renaissance. The artist intervenes on the question of the social order visible by the wearing of clothing. Clothing makes it possible to read the function that each individual occupies in the social world. The artist puts forward the idea that social conflict first manifests itself in the way it appears in public space. Here, the dress codes are erased as well at the slave Equiano, as at the Queen or the Prince. The artist restores a social order based on Equality.

Year: 2019
Medium: Fabrics, hand-made embroideries, 3 fans
Size (h x w x d): 23 x 43.5 x 22 inches (Variable)

Plaisir proposed a visual metaphor of the Caribbean Islands and its history, from the moment General Charles De Gaulle flew over The French Colony of Guadeloupe in 1964 to contemporary perception of the Island. When he arrived in Guadeloupe and Martinique, he was greeted by a cheering population. What he did not see across the idyllic landscape, were the effects of history on the island's people, from its period of slavery to the social emancipation movements. Through all of this and the present, Most parts of the Caribbean Islands have been in constant flux trying to find their place inside Caribbean history and in a global landscape. 'Oh! What a mirage!' is a cloud sculpture, positioned about an 'Island' set against an imagined sunny, clear blue sky.

Year: 2019
Medium: Porcelain, Stuffed fabric, embroidery, buttons
Size (h x w x d): 15 x 11 x 7 inches

Plaisir met this worker in the streets of the Little Haiti neighborhood near Miami. He was busy, as every day, picking up leaves and throwing them in a donut. His torn Suede gloves were his work tool but also the symbol of his inability to access another social rank. Working on the relationship of domination, She used the gloves, transforming him into a pair of porcelain person gloves, padded with fabrics, embroidery, and golden buttons. It was a question to preserve the story of this man by giving it importance but also by highlighting the act of domination by belonging to a social rank.

Year: 2020
Medium: Mixed media, printing on Duratrans archive paper
Size (h x w x d): 32 x 56 x 10.5 inches

Through the Backlit series entitled 'The Malediction of Cham', a misinterpretation of a Biblical story, which was ultimately used as a justification for anti-black racism, Plaisir uses the myth as a metaphor. Through the light space, she populates the background with archive illustrations from the Caribbean, lush photographs from nature— constellations, natural forms, and flowers, colored spots made with inks, inspired by both her Caribbean roots and her imagined ideal of a utopia without oppression. By composing vivid images, made in the form of collages in which converse an activist black personality and a character representing power or supremacy, Plaisir claims the paradigm of intersectionality. Also, the lightbox or Backlit is a way to put on the light the beauty of the black body and its magnificent like a sparkling, vibrant universe, unique and alive, an imagining space where no one dominates and no one is dominated.

Year: 2020
Medium: Mixed media, printing on Duratrans archival paper
Size (h x w x d): 30 x 48 x 10.5 inches

Through the Backlit series entitled 'The Malediction of Cham', a misinterpretation of a Biblical story, which was ultimately used as a justification for anti-black racism, Plaisir uses the myth as a metaphor. Through the light space, she populates the background with archive illustrations from the Caribbean, lush photographs from nature— constellations, natural forms, and flowers, colored spots made with inks, inspired by both her Caribbean roots and her imagined ideal of a utopia without oppression. By composing vivid images, made in the form of collages in which converse an activist black personality and a character representing power or supremacy, Plaisir claims the paradigm of intersectionality. Also, the lightbox or Backlit is a way to put on the light the beauty of the black body and its magnificent like a sparkling, vibrant universe, unique and alive, an imagining space where no one dominates and no one is dominated.

Year: 2020
Medium: Mixed media, printing on Duratrans archive film
Size (h x w x d): 56 x 32 x10.5 inches

Through the Backlit series entitled 'The Malediction of Cham', a misinterpretation of a Biblical story, which was ultimately used as a justification for anti-black racism, Plaisir uses the myth as a metaphor. Through the light space, she populates the background with archive illustrations from the Caribbean, lush photographs from nature— constellations, natural forms, and flowers, colored spots made with inks, inspired by both her Caribbean roots and her imagined ideal of a utopia without oppression. By composing vivid images, made in the form of collages in which converse an activist black personality and a character representing power or supremacy, Plaisir claims the paradigm of intersectionality. Also, the lightbox or Backlit is a way to put on the light the beauty of the black body and its magnificent like a sparkling, vibrant universe, unique and alive, an imagining space where no one dominates and no one is dominated.

Year: 2010
Medium: Acrylics, inks, hand-made embroidery
Size (h x w x d): 48 x 48 x 2 inches

Plaisir’s process began in historical and philosophical research, in which she came across the “curse of Cham”, a misinterpretation of a Biblical story, which was ultimately used as a justification for anti-black racism. Plaisir examines this myth and the ways in which its deeply harmful legacy still influences anti-black stereotypes and permeates today’s culture. Through different personalities who fought -in a way or in another way for equality and against domination-, Plaisir counters the concept of anti-blackness by presenting the color black, itself, as the subject of her paintings. Rather than using readymade black paint, Plaisir chose to create her own shade- utilizing every color in her palette as a symbol for the beauty, power, and multitudes of blackness. Within this space, Plaisir populates her background with lush imagery drawn from nature— constellations, natural forms, and flowers, inspired by both her Caribbean roots and her imagined ideal of a utopia.

Year: 2020
Medium: Acrylics, inks, hand-made embroderies
Size (h x w x d): 48 x 48 inches

Plaisir’s process began in historical and philosophical research, in which she came across the “curse of Cham”, a misinterpretation of a Biblical story, which was ultimately used as a justification for anti-black racism. Plaisir examines this myth and the ways in which its deeply harmful legacy still influences anti-black stereotypes and permeates today’s culture. Through different personalities who fought -in a way or in another way for equality and against domination-, Plaisir counters the concept of anti-blackness by presenting the color black, itself, as the subject of her paintings. Rather than using readymade black paint, Plaisir chose to create her own shade- utilizing every color in her palette as a symbol for the beauty, power, and multitudes of blackness. Within this space, Plaisir populates her background with lush imagery drawn from nature— constellations, natural forms, and flowers, inspired by both her Caribbean roots and her imagined ideal of a utopia.

Year: 2020
Medium: Acrylics, inks, Hand-made embroideries
Size (h x w x d): 48 x 94 inches

Plaisir’s process began in historical and philosophical research, in which she came across the “curse of Cham”, a misinterpretation of a Biblical story, which was ultimately used as a justification for anti-black racism. Plaisir examines this myth and the ways in which its deeply harmful legacy still influences anti-black stereotypes and permeates today’s culture. Through different personalities who fought -in a way or in another way for equality and against domination-, Plaisir counters the concept of anti-blackness by presenting the color black, itself, as the subject of her paintings. Rather than using readymade black paint, Plaisir chose to create her own shade- utilizing every color in her palette as a symbol for the beauty, power, and multitudes of blackness. Within this space, Plaisir populates her background with lush imagery drawn from nature— constellations, natural forms, and flowers, inspired by both her Caribbean roots and her imagined ideal of a utopia.