Clémentine Guichard “Mildiou”

Mildiou:

At one point in my life I was in a lot of psychological pain, I had very strong and unpredictable anxiety attacks, which plunged me into depression whenever I thought I was better. People around me didn't understand, some seeing me as "normal" and "strong" at times. I didn't feel taken into account. I felt more and more the external social pressure, which requires being well, and being resilient. I felt victimized and guilty of it at the same time. I was being asked to adapt to a pace that I couldn't keep up, to look like something, but I didn't look like anything. I was already working with plants at this time and I turned to them. They show their wounds, their spots, those are sometimes even very beautiful in our eyes. Like the art of Kintsugi, I highlighted the scars created by Mildew on the tomatoes in my garden. They rotted more and more, and became my imaginary friends and the mirrors of my buried fears. It made me laugh about it. To take the pictures helped me « to free » a part of myself, and to legitimize what i was living.

Clémentine Guichard