Xavier Veilhan’s work explores different degrees of representation between the physical presence of the object and the virtual existence of the image with an idea of deconstruction - whether sculptural or statuary. This tension in the transition between image and object is present in Veilhan’s marqueteries and in the new abstracted landscape works. A gradual shift from individual objects to a greater whole is taking place as individually coloured wooden pieces are assembled together, and when completed, gives shape to a new motif.
“This new series of landscapes only works realistically when certain elements are taken into account, such as the horizon line or the reflection of the sky in the sea, or vice versa. I'm interested in exploring the art of the photographed landscape, and I'm thinking of photographers like Ansel Adams, who recomposed the image in the laboratory when developing the images, dosing light and dark, and here we're all the more aware of this in a black and white image that refers to a landscape that's more like that of Gustave Le Gray, for example, or Gerhard Richter.
Here, the way we break the image down into a few elements means that there's a kind of trick that works when you see the image from a distance, the distance is very important, it's what happens when you see a small image on your phone and it becomes even more coherent.” - Xavier Veilhan