A closer look at the work of “performer and plastic artist” Caroline Denervaud

Caroline Denervaud defines herself as a “performer and plastic artist”. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1978, Caroline has since moved to Paris, where she generates work which meditates on the physicality of her body.

Caroline’s work is abstract at first look, but go deeper into her working process videos and you’ll find that her mark-making is underscored by a cautiously considered approach. Sometimes the physical artwork seems to come first, and we watch Caroline making shapes with her body on a half-completed canvas laid flat on the ground before adding to it with paint again. At other times, performance and artwork are made at once. The artist uses her body to make sweeping, dance-like movements, which are carried from her body to paper or canvas with a hand-held paintbrush which traces the direction of gestures. With her videos and stills shot mostly in black and white and with rare glimpses of colour revealing a fondness for blue, Caroline’s work recalls the pioneering performative work of Yves Klein.

Caroline also works with photographer Pascaline Dargant as a creative duo named the Heidies. “Within a defined framework — unit of time, place and action — they explore gesture and material to extract a moment of delicate balance,” the pair say of their work.