Vethan Sautour | Origami Renaissance - Official Artist Website

VETHAN SAUTOUR - ORIGAMI RENAISSANCE

NEW GUINEA SINGING DOG
photography, edition of six

123 x 69 cm

2022

Whilst in “Origami Extinction”, the artist focused on aesthetics to create a potent effect on the audience, in “Origami Renaissance”, she decided to take it a step further in exploring the materiality behind the artwork and its symbolism. Thus, she decided to invite fire, the only element more destructive than humans, to represent the magnitude and speed of our destruction of animal species.

Through destruction, the artist captured the makings of fire, the transformative aspect of its nature and the ever-changing shapes taken by the burnt materials. Taking multiple or single photographs of these rapidly vanishing moments, the artist bears witness to the power of destruction and the beauty that can emerge of what enabled the human race to become the first race – an interesting, ironic combination of two living organisms with a great capacity of annihilation.

Fire is also highly symbolic, as it is one of the natural disasters that have been increasing in recent years and caused immense ravages to human activities and wild fauna alike. Each element in the pictures has been in contact with fire, but just as much as the latter stands for utter destruction it also exemplifies the concept of renaissance, like the phoenix resurrecting from its ashes. Thereupon, “Origami Renaissance” focuses on animal species, which were thought to have disappeared, but have been rediscovered, and likewise the origami used is the dove, a symbol of peace and hope.

"The New Guinea singing dog was thought to be extinct in the wild, but new genetic research suggests their distinctive howl still echoes in the highlands of the Oceanic islands, reports James Gorman for the New York Times.

Not seen in the wild by scientists since the 1970s, conservation biologists thought the only New Guinea singing dogs left on Earth were the 200 to 300 captive animals residing in zoos and sanctuaries, reports Michael Price for Science.

To find out what these highland wild dogs really were, McIntyre trekked into the rugged terrain surrounding the Grasberg Mine, one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines, in 2016. The expedition produced 149 photographs of 15 individual dogs as well as an array of fecal samples. Per Science, if one were trying to cast a pooch for the role of the New Guinea singing dog, the wild dogs looked, acted and sounded the part." (source: Smithsonian Magazine)

Like in “Origami Extinction”, only one kind of origami has been used, here the dove, a symbol of peace and hope.

All photographs are numbered and limited to six editions.

I am a French artist based in Vienna, Austria, blending conceptual art and Pop Art. Upon completion of my Bachelors in Law and Art History at La Sorbonne in Paris, as well as a Master’s Degree in the Art Market at EAC in Paris and in International Business at INSEEC in London, I entered the United Nations. There, the causes I worked for lent me the ideas that would shape and give birth to my art series, believing that art has the power to spur change in society.

Thusly, I decided to start by focusing on two main issues: animal extinction and climate change. To do so, I used a variety of mediums, such as photography, sculpture and painting, choosing what will induce the best impact.

The year 2018 marked my first exhibition in Florence, which since then has been followed by a constant flow of opportunities to showcase my works, including among other hotspots Paris, London, Zürich, Berlin, South Korea and Dubai. In 2020, I won the Kalos Art Prize for one of my paintings from the “Medici” series.

Art is a way to communicate ideas and concepts to an audience. The different series I came up with until now are dealing with topics that I want to share with the rest of the world and give my understanding of. These include climate change and animal extinction, among others.

Dylan Thomas once wrote about poetry that "a good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him", and to my mind this is art's purpose.