2019. Techniques: folded and painted papers glued in situ on the wall.

My friend Clémence Doutre, born on March 16, 1983, died on December 16, 2018, from fulminating leukemia. Shock. Electric shock. 3 days where everything happened very quickly. There was a “with” Clem, there was a “without” Clem. We met at the Levat convent, we had our respective workshops there. Her flight to other lands turned my life upside down. Turning point. Change. Shitty years. Shitty but still alive. Me (why me?) I am lucky to be alive. To stay here. To savor life. To devour it as for 2, for 3, for 4, for them.
Since her departure, I have never wanted to cheat on my age or grumble about getting old again! As he told me “Few have the privilege of growing old, each year is to be savored with joy and honor”.
I am 41 years old. Clem left at 35. It was already 5 years ago Shock. Breathless.
Clem and I: we danced, we cried, we laughed, we ate oysters, we dressed up, we supported each other, we wanted to change the world, we worked tirelessly, we gathered, we sacrificed ourselves: but too much. We wanted to be loved, to fuck, to be tender, to be surrounded, to give birth. Our families were a mirror image: dad, siblings. With Clem we loved children, anarchy, laughter, sensitivity, believing. Our energies rose together.
Clem left. Leaving us here. Leaving her family. Her dad, her mom: the two of them whose grief we cannot understand. Her brother, her sister-in-law, and then her nephews. Her dear nephews. Who will only know her through us, our words, our memories, our images, our words.
At their grandpa and grandma’s, Oscar and Simon have their room, in Annecy. So there I wanted to make a fresco that you didn’t have time to do… It is in the middle of your watercolors. A bit like a protective halo for them, A halo of eternity. To, through me, bring them back a little of you, your creativity and your love. Because you had a lot of love. Be at peace my Clem! I’m continuing the job!
We will think of you at the family meal / snack project! And with Capu we always do a little witch psycho-magic, connected to the living, to the cold water of the mountains, to the dispersion of little seeds of love, in us and around us.
I’m thinking of you. Thank you for what you were, what you are and what you continue to be through us. L.O.V.E.
Thank you for all these life lessons. I love you my Friend.