Raphaëlle Goethals

MNEMOSYNE, archives, 2004-2009

Mnemosyne refers to the goddess of memory in Greek mythology. While there is nothing narrative about the work itself, the title is a comment on the artist’s position as a painter: painting has to refer to itself; to its own history...past and present are recalled in order to move minimalism forward. The viewer, it is hoped, receives the work with the heart then of course, the mind. "We only remember what we have forgotten," says Plato...and our artistic mind is made up of a mosaic of thoughts and images collected over the years, which can then be forgotten or put aside to reach the emptiness from which new work can manifest itself. (Click on painting for larger image.)