Femmes Coupees 

Curator: Looking at Katrien De Blauwer’s "Femmes Coupees," I’m struck by its delicate yet unsettling atmosphere. There’s a vulnerability in the fragmented figures, isn't there? Editor: It feels like glimpsing a memory, a half-formed narrative emerging from sepia tones. Collage as excavation, maybe? It reminds me of early photography experiments where they spliced images together. The symbolism of the cut, the female figure… there’s so much here. Curator: Absolutely, the very act of cutting and reassembling these images creates a dialogue, a new meaning emerges from these disruptions. These photographic elements hint at bodies, or body parts, perhaps appropriated from vintage magazines. Editor: The fragmentation has a way of drawing your focus to the individual details, like the curl of hair, the curve of a shoulder. It emphasizes those small, sensuous elements. It feels inherently symbolic - almost violent but undeniably beautiful. The layers… like memories piled one on top of the other. It’s an iconic and emotionally stirring method that has its roots in Surrealism, where fragments represented the subconscious. Curator: I feel there’s an intentional obscuring, too. These figures are presented with partial anonymity. The negative space almost whispers, leaving a desire to reconstruct these “femmes.” The lack of a defining background adds to this ambiguity - we could be anywhere, or anywhen. It brings a stillness that invites rumination, a deep focus in intimate parts of an otherwise invisible woman. Editor: That missing context adds to its timeless quality. This image taps into primal themes; womanhood, exposure and dismemberment – as well as concealment and preservation. Curator: Precisely. It seems De Blauwer is offering us an exercise in reconstruction - demanding that we project our narratives onto these silhouetted figures and faded moments. In my mind, I keep coming back to the elegance of a body in darkness... The mystery of an icon cut into pieces and made into something whole, something new, again. Editor: I agree, by subverting the original context, the artist elevates what could have been simple nudes to symbolic totems that question how we understand a figure through fragmented information. It's a poignant statement.