Common sense usually tells us to “not play with fire”. However, the longing to touch the delicate yet powerful flame, dancing on top of a candle, can be great. You will soon realize that the hot flame can burn you, but the attraction does not fade.

Oda Jaune’s installation Hands created especially for SEEN shows a symbiosis of light and shadow, confronting the viewers with the question of their own existence. In absolute silence and as an antidote to our distractive times, the installation explores the theme of perception and represents a never repeating moment. Under the candle flame, the sculpture becomes animated: shadows start to dance, candles melt away. The wax traces left by the melting become a symbol for the inevitable passage of time and the fragility of life – a poignant metaphor for vanity. All the while, the bronze hands burn but seem to resist the pain, as an everlasting material. The installation functions as a memento, created through life and death.

Oda Jaune is represented by Galerie Templon.