Roxane Kisiel, a 26-year-old artist mixing embroidery techniques on paper, fabric, thread and engraving, is the 2018 winner of the Juvenars-IESA Prize. She will receive the sum of 5,000 euros and will exhibit in the IESA arts&culture Gallery in October 2018.
In her work, she expresses “the fragility and precariousness of this living knowledge, which is by the same token subject to annihilation.” This artist emphasizes works that evoke a contrast between life and death. Roxane already exhibited at the Musée d’Ussel in 2013 while she was studying in Brussels.
How did you hear about the Juvenars-IESA Prize?
It was through websites listing prizes and artist residencies on the internet that I learned about the Juvenars-IESA Prize. After reading the call for applications and learning about the conditions for participation, I decided to submit my portfolio, hoping to be able to exhibit in Paris.
Why did you choose this work, "La Grande Broderie," to enter the Juvenars-IESA Prize?
I wanted to submit the "Great Embroidery" to the Juvenars-IESA Prize because, in my view, it is the piece that best expresses my research on the fragility of existence. It is indeed the culmination of a reflection on death, understood as a poetics of the opening of bodies. Working with thread on paper comes from my practice of printmaking, in which I trained. It was through printing techniques that I first came face to face with the sensory reality of paper, a material that reveals, as it passes under the press, the work of making the matrix. Little by little, I thus integrated into my printmaking work the embroidery techniques I practiced alongside my projects, blending thread and paper.
What does a prize like this bring you?
Thanks to the Juvenars-IESA Prize and the exhibition in the IESA gallery, I benefit from a visibility that allows me to present my work to players on the contemporary scene. The upcoming exhibition proposals give me exciting prospects, and the funding provided by the prize gives me the opportunity to continue ambitious projects, with greater ease in obtaining often expensive equipment.