ADELINE CONTRERAS: SENSORIAL TRACES BETWEEN MEMORY AND MATERIAL

| by Barbara Pavan |

Adeline Contreras, an artist living and working in France, explores collective memory in her work—”a shared story”, she explains, “linked to our sensory and visual experiences, embedded in a more personal experience. A memory tied to a sensation rather than an event, a recollection that awakens our sensory memory. These resurfacings are the trace of our experiences, sensations connected to the context in which we evolve.” Contreras pursues an artistic inquiry nourished by memory, reclaimed materials, and textile techniques.

Her works, tactile and material-based, embody the visible concreteness of a perpetual metamorphosis, hybridizing into polymorphic forms of varying dimensions and materials, hinting at the infinite possibilities of inhabiting a world in motion and finding one’s place within it.

Faced with her sculptures, the eye does not seek to recognize familiar shapes, as their meaning does not lie in references to known elements but in the invitation to let sight yield to touch, to the sensory perception offered by the materials employed. Volume becomes the medium through which fabric, earth, and fibers find expression. The scale of her sculptures is conceived in relation to the human body, shaping the viewer’s experience and redefining their position within the exhibition space. These pieces assert themselves with a physical presence that compels the visitor to move, to traverse the space, to draw near and grasp their nuances, to embrace them visually or, conversely, to be enveloped by them. Her three-dimensional, modular works engage in dialogue with space, both the studio where they take shape and the exhibition space where they are installed. Each work becomes a proposal for the spatial organization of matter, forging a deep connection between the viewer’s body and the surrounding environment.

The forms that emerge from her works transcend the realm of the recognizable, reaching a more subtle and intuitive dimension, capable of evoking the sensory, the ineffable, the fragile memory of ancestral sensations and emotions: the fiber trodden underfoot along a trail, the grass one plays with, the smooth or rough fabric brushing against the skin, the terracotta recalling stone polished by water…

In each piece, Contreras assembles natural and primitive elements, recontextualized within a contemporary artistic form in which tactile memory takes precedence over vision, offering a deeper, more instinctive perceptual experience.

Memory is one of the central themes of her artistic research—not only as a personal recollection but as a collective, archaic history. Contreras chooses materials that already carry their own layered narratives, collected and repurposed—fragments that become treasures preserving traces of the past. Experimentation with materials is an integral part of her creative process, allowing her to explore structures, variations, and nuances to tell new stories through matter.

Her choice of textile as an expressive medium has its roots in childhood, when she learned to sew with her grandmother, a seamstress. This evokes shared moments, the image of an elderly woman bent over a sewing machine, a needle resting between her lips. For Contreras, fabric is a material that takes form only once it is shaped, a thread that unravels into a line, a flat surface ready to envelop. Her works draw inspiration from natural habitats — nests, cocoons, seeds, membranes — structures that embrace life in transformation. The creative process begins with sketches filling her notebooks, followed by the selection of a design that will become a sculpture. Each element, whether textile or ceramic, demands specific timeframes and techniques, with construction phases that can span months. The final assembly, where elements are joined through threads, is a crucial moment in which the artist observes and refines, ensuring that every material finds its place while remaining faithful to the original sketch.

A distinctive aspect of her practice is her work with artist’s books — sculptural forms born from her passion for literature, particularly poetry. These books tell stories through the sensitivity of matter, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in them. Often conceived alongside her sculptures, some of these books incorporate texts, the result of collaborations with poets, echoing her early experiences with painting and printmaking.

Over time, Contreras’ art has evolved from painting and printmaking toward textiles and ceramics, with sculptures becoming increasingly large and complex, exploring infinite volumes and sensibilities. For her, being an artist is a commitment, a way of life, a way of seeing the world — one that reveals the delicacy and sensitivity of what surrounds us. In contemporary society, art has the responsibility to awaken this sensitivity, to bring the invisible to the surface, transforming humble, forgotten materials into works that speak of transformation and beauty.

Adeline Contreras has participated in nationally and internationally significant projects and exhibitions. Among her most notable recent experiences is Tissage Tressage, curated by Danièle Kapel-Marcovici at Fondation Villa Datris; the international group exhibitions Natural Impressions and Intellectual Beauty at Museu Têxtil, curated by Rodrigo Franzao; LAC&S-Lavitrine, Centre d’Art Contemporain, curated by Martione Parcinau; and Wild Things at Texture Museum, curated by Philip Fimmano for Edelcorp Group.

Her work has been included in the exhibition Livres Pauvres at the Bibliothèque d’Étude et du Patrimoine in Toulouse, reaffirming her interest in the artist’s book as an expressive form, through which she had already been selected for the Biennale des Livres d’Artistes – Art Libris and the 7ème Biennale du Livre d’Artistes at the Fondation Roger Dewint. Her works have also been acquired by the Collection de Livres d’Artistes at the University of Rennes.

Her career has been marked by accolades and participation in international events such as the PRIX ARTEXTURES, the exhibition at the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Briançon, and the Musée de la Toile de Jouy.