Laure Prouvost x Carlotta Bailly-Borg

Arbitrary communication, illogical sequences, and subconsciously derived amalgamations
weave the fabric of a dream—an absurd, intimate domain beyond the bounds of reality.
In Laure Prouvost x Carlotta Bailly-Borg, a fluid transition between perception, association,
and memory links the works of Brussels-based artists Laure Prouvost and Carlotta Bailly-
Borg, who dissolve the boundaries of reason, offering portals into surreal states of
experience. Rendered in nocturnal hues, Carlotta Bailly-Borg’s paintings depict bodies that bend and intertwine, floating in abstract compositions that defy anatomy and gravity. They exist in a
realm beyond logic—a state of dreamy haze. The work Dispersed, a tribute to Tove Jansson,
captures the ethereal aesthetics reminiscent of the Finnish author and artist’s oeuvre.
Painted in shades of violet, grey, and pale blue, multiple figures coalesce and dissolve in an
atmosphere of smoky free-fall. The work comprises two distinct yet seamlessly integrated
fields, almost as though divided into panels, but without the clear separation of a diptych.
This division evokes the sensation of a book, two pages unfolded before us, a dialogue
between the two realms. Floral forms appear atop an enigmatic, otherworldly scene as if
pressed between pages—remnants of a fleeting past. Soul Mining possesses a similarly
diaphanous quality. Two languorous figures are depicted in charcoal against a dusky blue
acrylic ground. As with the other compositions in the exhibition, they seem inverted, topsy-
turvy: one figure gently encircles the other in a tender gesture, their face hovering over
their counterpart as if to caress or reanimate them. The work feels suspended in an
ambiguous state of transformation, inviting quiet reflection on care, decay, and renewal.
Laure Prouvost’s multi-layered artistic universe teems with ambiguous spaces where the
extraordinary and unfamiliar converge with the commonplace to produce unexpected new
alignments and sensory logics. A storyteller at heart, her omnivorous practice consistently
circles a recurring cast of offbeat characters, objects, and beings to create sensual narratives
that explore unexpected connections between language, image, and perception. Prouvost’s
mixed-media, resin-encased relics explore memory and ephemerality, turning fleeting
moments into physical keepsakes. A mainstay of her practice, they often incorporate
elements from previous installations, metabolizing past contexts into novel constellations of
meaning. In this shared space of associative logic and poetic materiality, Bailly-Borg and
Prouvost reveal how images become porous—bending time, leaking memories, and
resisting resolution. Rounding out the gallery’s program before the summer break, the exhibition’s oscillation between reality and reverie, illusion and materiality, evokes the delicate transience of a
midsummer’s night.