The Thickness of Silence III

Belgium-born Fabienne Francotte conflates social, emotional, and spiritual experiences in her work: the vivid narrative of an expatriate, teacher, and observer. The Thickness of Silence are a series of disembodied lips that appear half open or half closed, as if caught in a gasp, between phrases or whispering quietly into the viewer’s ear. Using embroidery to create her unfinished lips, Fabienne meditatively engages with a back-and-forth tugging movement with her body. This dialogue between artist and material is integral to her process, as she probes and contemplates how we, as a society, speak about invisible wounds, hidden traumas and pervasive power structures in our communities.