When Only the Mask Remains (Jusqu’ici tout va bien…)

"I was always fascinated by how people looked when they were portrayed, from traditional media like painting to photography, or even in the mundane act of communicating and acting in a social context. From kings to ordinary people, we present an acceptable façade.

Or rather, it is a stance we have learned to take—what is socially acceptable or required, simply a normal way to interact.

But what about the moments in between? Who are we when we stop the movie and take a still from it? Which story unfolds from that moment? Could I know its past and imagine its future?

I remember a photographer friend who would take portraits of artists from the Dutch West Coast scene, holding a musical attribute—an instrument or a symbol of achievement.

He would arrange the composition with the artist and sometimes wait for thirty minutes before taking a single picture. He told me he was waiting for the moment when a person dropped their mask. It was hilarious, because you could see annoyance or boredom. But usually it was a recognisable sense of awkwardness.

I understand that. Awkwardness may be our purest stance. It is that moment I want to capture, interact with, and befriend. Perhaps it is my mirror, but I am certain it is who I want to see in front of me.

When Only the Mask Remains is a mechanical in-between state: a cyborg in a classical stance with an annoyed expression. Here, the human and the instrument merge together, and when she forgets to take off the mask, she remains eternally in that moment.

I want to disrupt the structures that give coherence to an arbitrary narrative. A disturbance that will interrupt the flow of meaning and let me connect with the person across the room.

I want to see a person who is no longer fully contained by their role, when the question “who are you?” stops having an easy answer."

Black on black, yet unmistakably present. The subtle grey tone of the paper brings the layer forward, giving the image a quiet, almost tactile depth. The print is produced by Andreas Ziegler, a highly experienced screen printer and co owner of Fried Records, and made in collaboration with De Grafische Werkplaats.