September 2020 Guest List: Reine Paradis

September 2020 Guest List: Reine Paradis

By Tarleton Walmsley

Guest List: A person real or imagined, living or dead, that we'd like to have over for dinner.
Over the weekend I accidentally stumbled upon a documentary about visual artist Reine Paradis currently available on Prime. I immediately texted my friend (hi, Alexis!) that she MUST watch 'Queen of Paradis' asap. And now I'm recommending it to you too, and it's why Reine is coming to my dinner party this month.

Reine creates visually stunning photographs of herself in what feels like a surreal world, but is actually landscapes she finds while traveling the country with her partner. Mundane things like billboards or railroad tracks instantly become otherworldly. In the documentary, I learned that Reine will choose one or two colors as her primary chromatic inspiration. I love that the confines of choosing a small amount of color then transforms into such a wide array of imagery and storytelling.

 In the series above, Reine's neon yellow/green wardrobe plays a starring role against saturated Yves Klein blues. A lot of Reine's work is inspired by a childhood growing up in rural France, which was filled with imagination, play, and discovery. She is also influenced by the way in which this work has inspired a sense of confidence in her physical self--something that before becoming the central figure in her work seemed to allude her. I think as a woman I can certainly relate to the confines I place upon my own body as a result of ~patriarchy~ and learning to develop better self-esteem as an adult. Anyway, be sure to check out the documentary. I'm enamored and would love to hear what your experience of watching this was.

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